The Warrior Slave
by KM Bard
Summary: What if season 6 Gabrielle - Queen of the Amazons - met with an early Xena? This tale breathes life into a new bout of relationships and interactions between the beloved characters of Xena: Warrior Princess.
1. Chapter 1

The wind was so loud the festivities were nearly turned indoors, but the prisoners were rather difficult to move. In the heart of Amphipolis, there was an auction of a small handful of infamous pillagers, thieves and warriors that had wronged many others in the surrounding area. One criminal in particular was known to those parts - Xena: Warrior Princess.

Queen Gabrielle of the Amazons looked over the crowd, and sat herself humbly aside two other villagers where her guards watched from afar. Gabrielle was known to be quite down-to-earth and capable of protecting herself, so the women simply watched their queen travel through the crowd unaccompanied.

The suede that adorned her skirt was pristinely cut and sewn into draping pieces feathered over Gabrielle's thighs as she sat on the bench to watch the day's events. Her hair just tickled her shoulders at the back, and fluttered up by her ears at certain junctures. Her bangs made themselves useful by keeping the sun off her forehead, and the piercing in her left ear piercing did its best to gather the breeze and cool her down. With the elements working their splendid magic, Gabrielle let out a smile quite instinctively as the sight before her. There on the small stage were four men and one woman. Four men, slouched and defeated, and the one woman growling and lunging at her captive audience. Gabrielle had to stifle the easy laughter that found its way out.

"Ain't nothin' to laugh about," an older man insisted from beside Gabrielle, not even bothering to tear his eyes from the woman on stage. "She's killed more people'n you've ever known, Girl ..."

"Is that so?" Gabrielle asked with more interest than condescension. She focused on the brunette as well - noting the half-dressed nature of the prisoner and the astonishing fact that she felt more attuned to the glowing blue eyes than the temptation of the flesh. Those blue eyes were enticingly addictive.

When the bidding eventually began for the men first, Gabrielle waited with a calm patience. Her hands remained folded in her lap until the woman was up for bidding, and then Gabrielle motioned over a woman of her guard.

"You see that woman?" Gabrielle asked.

"The almighty Xena? ... She'd be great for bedding, you know ..." Ephiny smirked, always the first to tease her queen. "Not that you'd get anywhere with that loose cannon."

When Ephiny nudged Gabrielle, the queen was hesitant to explain herself, so she simply smiled in return and commanded: "I'd like to have her."

Not one to judge Queen Gabrielle, Ephiny changed the topic. "Hey, I thought you said Ares would show up? I'm ready to throw my spear into that lousy-"

"Wow, wow," Gabrielle laughed, apologizing to the man at her side when he complained of the noise. In a lower voice, Gabrielle seized Ephiny's arm - unaware of the tingles her officer felt each time she did so - and clarified. "He'll be here, but I need you to do what I say. He's a god, Ephiny. Just trust me."

"Not that trick ... come on," Ephiny managed, already wrapped so tightly around Gabrielle's finger that she was set on doing as she was asked.

"You can do it. He'll be here shortly."

"Yes, My Queen."

Gabrielle nodded, and it was set.

Just as predicted, Ares snapped himself into view just as Xena's bidding had begun. Men of all sorts were standing to their feet and calling out bid-after-bid when Ares stormed toward the stage with his loppy grin to set his chosen one loose. Of course, he had enabled Xena's capture just to free her, but he wasn't bothered with his own tactics. Xena belonged to him and she always had.

"Who dares to try their hand at purchasing this lovely warrior?" Ares called out, half with rage and half with humor at his power over the crowd. "She won't be had."

Xena kept perched where she was - watching the events play out before her - both wrists and her neck chained to a loop bolted to the ground. It only had a small amount of give, and she wasn't sure where Ares's speech was going. Couldn't he simply dissolve the chains? Why the show?

Silent onlookers watched as an Amazon woman - Ephiny - stepped out and confronted the God of War. She held something in a small satchel at her side, and with a smile, she dipped her hand into that bag.

Ares looked her over, and grinned once again. "You up for sale, too?"

Quickly, and so he could not use his powers against her, she pulled out a handful of the shimmering powder, and blew it toward him. With that, he was pulled from his appearance to his spot on Mount Olympus - dreary and fatigued.

With little time to waste, Gabrielle stood to her feet and straightened her shoulders back. "I'll pay for her."

The crowd turned to the woman standing near the back of the seated rows. She was in her late twenties, and she had the markings of an Amazon Queen, although her smile was simple and her build was that of an independent warrior. She intimidated the villagers with her presence and her voice, as sure as it was clear.

With a few steps into the aisle, Gabrielle started her way toward the stage. "Whatever will be your highest bid, I will double the offer."

She turned on her heels, and was met with curious stares.

"Doesn't anyone care to speak up?"

One woman warrior buying another - it was unheard of. Especially an Amazon would never do such a thing, and yet there was their queen, insisting on just that.

Gabrielle squared her shoulders again, and then looked behind her to the stage, where only one person remained. Xena in chains.

Xena growled so low that the vibrations set deep in her throat sounded like a beast's steady breathing. She forced herself to lock eyes with the Amazon that insisted on her purchase, showing the crowd she feared no one, although she wondered about the woman's intent. Xena had been with countless women herself. Did this warrior see her as a slave to be had? It was a new thought to Xena - a woman objectifying her. Yet the blond warrior standing before her was not leering. She was simply stating her bid.

"If there are no objections, I will claim my warrior and we'll be off then."

As jaws dropped at the audacity of one woman to insist she would lead Xena away herself, Gabrielle hitched up her red suede skirt and drew herself up onto the slanted stage of old, nailed boards.

Once she was within Xena's reach, Gabrielle put her hands on her hips. Her eyes locked with the blue behind Xena's shade of tangled hair. Gabrielle crouched to balance on the balls of her feet and quietly spoke to the woman tugging at her restraints. "I might not look like much, but I can hold my own." Then Gabrielle smiled, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. "These are bad circumstances. I want to speak with you. Will you come with me freely?"

Xena darted her eyes out to the crowd, and then yanked on her chains again, unwilling to be so easily bought.

Gabrielle sighed. "I feared it might be this way."

Sensing the Amazon's good nature, Xena allowed her close to unlock the chains. It was all she needed to be free, and then her capturers would be sorry. Xena perched, waiting to hear the click of the lock as the rest of the crowd held their breath, knowing Xena's ability. They had seen Xena's ability when she'd turned from village girl to the most feared warlord in their land.

"There are others here to help," Ephiny offered, having helped herself up onto the stage, resting one hand on her queen's shoulder.

Gabrielle halted her work and glanced up at her most trusted guard. "Ephiny ... let me do this. Alone."

Xena wasn't looking at them, but she wondered if it were a planned spectacle. An Amazon taking her on? Since when had she heard of such a thing? She couldn't recall a woman with such audacity.

"One move of this key, and your wrists are free. Then comes your neck," the Amazon queen instructed.

Xena felt herself calmed by the voice that guided the actions. Caged like an animal, she had been shown no mercy, and there came this woman, speaking to her as if Xena had the right to mercy. However, those feelings only gave hesitance to an action Xena knew would have to come next. She needed to run, and this woman was only in her way.

The wrist cuffs had dropped, and the last lock only released the chain from the neck piece which still gripped tightly at Xena's neck.

As Gabrielle released the last chain, Xena lashed out and pounced on the young queen. She had Gabrielle's shoulders pinned, but just as they landed on the stage, Gabrielle brought her arm in close, and disabled Xena's hold on her right arm. With hips thrust up, Gabrielle tumbled them over so she rolled onto the dark warrior.

It wasn't the first time in her life someone had bested her, but it was the first time Xena had so underestimated her opponent. She would need to put more effort behind her fight.

An Amazon guard aside Ephiny asked her: "Why don't you help her anyway?"

"Two things you have yet to learn," Ephiny instructed Eponin: "Our queen is a stubborn woman."

"And the second?"

"She is more able than you or I. Or Xena, even."

Eponin watched the struggle on-stage as Xena stood and pulled Gabrielle up by her suede tunic. "Oh gods ... W ... why did you offer to help her then?"

Ephiny crossed her arms and grinned as Gabrielle brought her knee into the warrior's stomach - landing on her feet to assist Xena's crouched reaction. "Because it's my job."

Gabrielle's arms flexed as Xena moved to create some space between them. Instead, Gabrielle gripped her clasped arms across Xena's chest - holding the new slave's back to her chest. Facing away from the crowd, Gabrielle braced herself with the thrashing she felt from the magnificently strong Xena.

Ephiny allowed her eyes to trace idly over the technique of her lovely queen - a smile threatening to pull more lovingly at her lips.

Eponin watched in amazement, as she had never seen her queen fight with such ferociousness. "My ... gods ..."

"Oh, this is nothing," Ephiny said without the grin that would usually accompany such a remark. "You should see her when she's woken too early in the morning."

Eponin chuckled at the quip, each of them fascinated by the show.

"I ... I don't wanna hurt you," Gabrielle whispered, feeling a very certain elbow to the middle of her abdomen. Instead of crumbling to the ground, Gabrielle used the leverage of Xena's back to keep herself up.

Just as Xena grabbed her arm, Gabrielle tugged herself free - fearing the infamous pressure points of the fearless woman with raven-black hair. Xena turned to Gabrielle, wanting to run, but knowing her reputation would be in ruins if she fled. For some reason, she wasn't as inclined as she thought she might be to injure the woman before her.

"Does this get you off?" Xena spat out, wiping her mouth on her wrist as she put up her hands into balled fists.

"Hardly," Gabrielle huffed with exhaustion and snorted laughter. "You?"

Xena frowned with anger at the playfulness she saw in her opponent who had a formidable strength. If one had trained all their lives to fight, humor was not usually a regular occurrence in their lives.

"Just walk with me ... out of here," Gabrielle smiled, despite herself. She braced her hands on her knees, and shook her head of the smile. "My apologies ... it's been quite some time since I've fought this way."

Instead of asking questions to inquire further, Xena observed the woman's movements. She would do anything she had to do to get away - to be free. When she saw her opportunity, she took it.

With Gabrielle's change in stance, Xena jabbed her left hand out to Gabrielle's right shoulder - kicking the blond in the chest to send her to the ground. With the wind knocked from her momentarily, Gabrielle lay breathless as Xena pounced and sent her angry fist into an unobtrusive and unexpecting nose.

As quickly as Ephiny saw the change of events, she bolted to the stage - watching in horror as Gabrielle was hit while she was down. Ephiny leapt up the stairs after watching two hits - one to Gabrielle's nose and one to her cheek - and one very surprising block from the seemingly beaten Gabrielle. With both arms, Gabrielle blocked her face, and having turned them, one hand went straight for Xena's neck. The smaller body tackled Xena and pinned her to the ground with both hands pressing to her opponent's windpipe.

"Ephiny ... wrist ... cuffs ..." Gabrielle panted, spitting the blood from her mouth as she glared down at the warrior in her hands. "Playing dirty ... I didn't ... expect that."

Xena couldn't place her feelings. When she looked up into her opponent's eyes, she connected in a way that seemed natural. If she were the type to apologize, she might have done so then, but before she could fully realize what that meant, she was cuffed and yanked to her feet by an angry, protective guard.

The new slave's leather attire produced familiar sounds to Gabrielle's ears as the slave was dragged away. Gabrielle watched after her, panting and frustrated. She had known Xena would be one to contend with, but for whatever reason, she hadn't expected the warrior to hit her while she was down.

Gabrielle was kicking herself for her mistakes. She was feeling down about her instincts later, as well, when Eponin inquired about the event. Over a large dinner, Gabrielle was biting off a large piece of bread when one of her young guards gestured over to her black eye: "You oughtta be more careful, if you don't mind me saying so."

"She minds," Ephiny interrupted, whacking the young woman at the back of her head in as irritated a fashion as possible. With that entrance, Ephiny helped herself to the seat across from the queen, sitting down with a thump on the worn wooden bench. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Yeah, she did that enough for the two of us," Gabrielle grumbled with some soft humor, shaking her head. Her hair was soft enough to give her hand a tender welcome as she raked it through, groaning with her well-worn smile. "I think ... I'm gonna go for some sparring. Can I catch up with you later, Ephiny?"

"Of course," Ephiny answered, trying her best at a smile as her queen started off in the other direction. "Son of a Bacchae!" Ephiny hissed under her breath to the young woman at her side. "Never again should I see you undermining Queen Gabrielle. Do you hear me?!"

Gabrielle rolled her eyes just outside of the large eating space - dubbed the Eatery - having heard Ephiny chiding the newest member of the guard. It seemed that no matter her insistence others should treat her as simply as any other person, there were some in the Amazon village who insisted otherwise. She was queen after all, Gabrielle was reminded.

Breathing in deeply with each couple of steps, Gabrielle made her way to the fenced-off sparring area. It was a woven mix of boards that had been reinforced for the best casing of a real fight. It was wide enough so that Gabrielle could practice her leaps and jumps, but not so large that she could lose her staff among the messy mud and hay.

One swish through the air, and her staff felt lifted and mighty. Gabrielle smiled as she twisted and moved, thinking that if she were able to choose any weapon on earth, it would be her staff. It was the thing that grounded her to her Amazon roots - roots which she took dearly to heart after running away from home before she was married off to some strange young man.

The staff whirled through the grey sky, always appearing to reach into the clouds. Gabrielle drew it down, into the dirt with a grunt and a kick, sending it back to her other hand.

She played so thoughtfully with her staff that she didn't sense the company until she heard an entirely unfamiliar voice.

"You're skilled with that thing."


	2. Chapter 2

The startled interruption sent the staff tumbling to the ground as Gabrielle pivoted on her heel and poised herself instinctively for defense. Her shoulders eased down as she noted just who was speaking to her.

"... Come to gloat?" Gabrielle asked with disrespect and eyes firing toward the warrior-turned-slave. "Although it's not much of a defeat to go at it the way you did."

"... I was cornered. What did you expect? Haven't you heard of me? - I'm Xena 'The Beast'."

There was a hint of a smile in the slave's eyes, but Gabrielle did not take well to the sort of brazen attitude she was hearing. She crouched down to get her staff, and stepped confidently toward Xena's leaning posture over the top of the fence - wrist cuffs sounding gently in the wind.

"You know," Gabrielle began. "I expect a lot from the girls trained here, and I have to say ... I would expect even more from a seasoned warrior." Two feet from the infamous Xena, Gabrielle found herself surprisingly fearless. "I guess I know how you got that reputation of yours."

"Not true," Xena answered, grinning quite accidentally. She hid her smile with her head tilted down and her chained hands up to pull her hair aside. "No ... you surprised me."

"So naturally, you had to beat my face in."

Xena wasn't used to others speaking to her with such audacity as the petite queen standing before her. She decided it was a shockingly beautiful quality for a woman to possess, but she had always detested Amazons for their fury and what she had always perceived as hysteria. They hadn't ever seemed to hold much logic, but she was forced to rethink her opinions as she faced the powerful woman just one big stride in front of her.

"I've done worse."

"And does that make you proud?" Gabrielle asked without hesitation. Without humor or any sense of good-natured fun. She was disappointed. There was even a tug of emotional upset in her tone.

"Has a man ever hit you that way?" It came from a place of curiosity, but Gabrielle did not respond as expected - expectations Xena had of opening up the same way many women had before.

"It's no business of yours. And if I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be in a cage somewhere, are you not?"

"Yeah, fine," Xena muttered, surprising Gabrielle with her matter-of-fact response. Xena stood tall to crack her back. "It was cramped."

Gabrielle rested her hands on her hips, and asked calmly: "Who let you out?"

"No one."

Gabrielle looked at her and blinked. "You let yourself out of a cage - double-padlocked and welded with steel?"

The queen spoke out of disbelief more than true curiosity, but Xena answered just the same: "Yup. See you in the morning. It should be a nice one for a nice, slow execution." She spoke of her own death, but Gabrielle did nothing to dissuade the idea. She would take no care to soothe the mind of such a disrespectful woman.

Ephiny walked from the Eatery just to catch Queen Gabrielle staring off at something else. Following her line of sight, Ephiny's eyes went wide and she stormed over to Gabrielle.

Ephiny needed to calm herself so as not to raise her voice to her queen. "Why did you let her out?"

Gabrielle folded her arms, finally bringing her thoughts to the woman aside her. "No ... I didn't. She let herself out."

"And she was here with you?! ..." Ephiny asked, crushed that she hadn't been there to defend her queen. The woman she felt for as more than her leader. "Gabrielle ... Queen Gabrielle ... are you alright?"

Without permission, Ephiny circled the queen, her eyes racing for injury. Satisfied Gabrielle would be alright, Ephiny looked into distant green irises that wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know.

"Gabrielle. What happened?"

Baffled with the realization, Gabrielle blew air out from her pursed lips. "I think she's harmless to me. I mean ... I know how that sounds ... but I don't think she'd harm me again. Not like that anyway ..."

Ephiny grabbed Gabrielle's arm to shake her into the moment - finally connecting with those familiar and loving eyes. "Gabrielle ... you're scaring me."

"Sorry, Eph. I ... I guess she scares me, too. I think she's intelligent." With that, Gabrielle started off toward the well-built housing that kept her chambers as well as three large rooms of her three personal guard - Ephiny included. "She's more intelligent than she's been given credit for, but it's natural. She doesn't know how to use it."

"Are you mad?!" Ephiny laughed, despite herself. She hurried in front of Gabrielle, walking backward to gather her queen's attention. "Gabrielle ... she pummelled you at the auction! She would have done worse had you not been so quick."

Gabrielle stopped, and the wind blew her bangs cascading down into her eyes. Just as quickly, her eyes were revealed again with their full depth, and it silenced Ephiny completely.

"Well, I AM that quick."

Ephiny swallowed and nodded her head in defeat. "My apologies, My Queen."

Gabrielle extended her arm out and rested her hand on Ephiny's right shoulder. "Ephiny ... you are as loyal to me as anyone I've ever known. I trust and value your opinion. I only ask that you trust and value mine in return."

"Always," Ephiny agreed, looking up into the emerald gaze that lifted her in such moments. Gabrielle had always been so beautiful it was a curse in dangerous situations of her life, but Ephiny couldn't curse the looks she thought to at night. With Gabrielle's warm palm on her skin, she was in love all over again. In such moments, she felt she would stutter her words or crumble altogether, but she had always been able to keep to her task as lead of Gabrielle's guard. She had always been capable, and trusted only herself with Gabrielle's safety.

"There's no need to tuck me in, Eph," Gabrielle smiled in such a way that it reminded Ephiny of the queen's playful teasing among all her staff. "Have yourself a good rest."

Ephiny's heart leapt in her chest as Gabrielle stepped over toward the queen's chambers - the unique carving in the walls a pleasant greeting. She watched the short, straight blond hair disappear behind the swinging door, and only then did she remember to straighten up and keep alert.

Xena watched from her uncomfortable cage just two buildings away, with both arms pressing against the steel and her knees cold against the floor of the fixture. She closed her eyes to internalize what she had seen. At times, her observant nature was a curse. At times, she had been kept from sleep because of her extreme abilities that kept her ever-aware. However, through her twelve years of experience, Xena had learned to cope with the abilities laid upon her by the God of War himself.

"I bet you think you're smart," Ephiny snapped once she'd pounded her feet into the ground all the way over the cage where Xena sat. She tugged at the locks on the cage, and gave the bars an aggressive shake. "If you think I believe for one second you let yourself out of here, you're a fool. Whoever's working with you ... we'll catch them."

Xena didn't bother to speak to the angry guard. She simply stared ahead in silence.

"And if you even think ... about hurting our queen ..." Ephiny hissed, bent to Xena's eye level, just out of reach. "I'll put my blade through you slowly. You got that?"

Xena let out a natural grin, but straightened her lips at the guard's anger. It was no sense getting herself injured when there was important work ahead. "Yeah."

"Good," Ephiny huffed, turning from the cage to compose herself and walk to the chambers for sleep.

It was dark, then darker, and then so black outside that Xena had some difficulty with the locks on the cage. However, with some time and precision, she was freed once again.

Gabrielle was asleep in her room filled with natural brown hues, wooden carvings, and carefully sewn materials to affix her stay. It was a welcoming environment although others had only visited under duress. Even Ephiny hadn't been to Gabrielle's room simply to visit.

With no candle burning anywhere in sight, the room was black with darkness, and the hues and decorations in the room were blanketed with the absence of light.

A sound cut through the silence, and Gabrielle inhaled into wakefulness. The comfortable furs brushed at her back as she turned and opened her eyes to the dark.

"Hey."

Gabrielle gasped, and quickly rolled off her cot toward her candle drawer, where she lit a thin one and held it at arm's length - inspecting her surroundings. The voice had been hushed, but it was close.

With panicked eyes, Gabrielle spotted the intruder, getting carefully to her feet. "Have you lost your mind?"

Xena bit her cheek, feeling she deserved that comment. "Look ... I know you don't understand, but I have to go finish something. I'll be back before the sun comes up - before that guard of yours can jab at me for freeing myself again."

Gabrielle watched very carefully as the animalistic warrior spoke as fluently and sharply as she might have done in different circumstances. Xena's wrist cuffs were pulled taut from wrist-to-wrist so as not to elicit any sound.

"But-"

"I'm not asking. I'm telling."

"Then why come in here?"

Xena tilted her head up and then down, lifting only her eyes to the sight before her. There stood the beautiful and powerful Queen of the Amazons in only a simple shift of off-white, laced around a low collar. With one glance, she looked back down to her feet.

Without another word from Xena or any threat from Gabrielle, the slave let herself out, and Gabrielle slowly found her way back into bed. The whispering had been so low and hushed that with Gabrielle's door shut, she figured no one had heard. Still, even with Xena having gone, Gabrielle felt unsettled.

If there were one person who had always been there for her, it was Ephiny. Knowing that, Gabrielle swallowed her pride, and knocked on her guard's door with gentle fingers.

It only took a handful of seconds for the door to yank open with an angry and interrupted sleeper growling quietly: "What?!" Ephiny gasped silently when she saw the sight before her - was she dreaming? "... Gabrielle ...? Q-Queen Gabrielle?"

"Don't look so surprised," Gabrielle grumbled, both arms hanging loosely and dejectedly down by her sides. "I don't feel like myself."

"Hey ..." Ephiny whispered tenderly - each word painting her caresses. "Hey ... what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Gabrielle sighed, gaining entry into the room with one glance of her eyes. Ephiny stepped aside, and gestured for Gabrielle to make herself comfortable. The darkness was lit with two candle of the guard's own keeping, and the flame flickered as Gabrielle dropped herself on the ground to sit. "Sorry."

"Don't be."

"I am. I just can't sleep ... do you mind if I sleep here?"

"Not on the floor, but you can take the bed," Ephiny commanded in such a tone that Gabrielle didn't even bother to suggest otherwise. Given the circumstances, she ceded the strong suggestion and drew herself up onto the thick cot, pulling the covers over her legs and up, under her arms.

"Thanks, Eph ... I'm sorry ..."

"Just sleep," Ephiny smiled, warmed at the sight of Gabrielle lying in her bed. She softly brushed the queen's bangs from her bruised face in so simple a way she didn't believe it could be misconstrued the next morning. Gabrielle didn't seem herself at all, but it wasn't the visit Ephiny had been praying for. Years had gone by in the presence of her queen, and for years, Ephiny had wanted more than a professional bond. It wasn't what she dreamed it might be, but the moment Gabrielle had closed her eyes to sleep, Ephiny allowed herself to take in the sight. "Goodnight, My Queen ... Dream well."

When morning came, Gabrielle stretched and woke to the lulling scent of her trusted guard and friend in the sheets. She scrunched her brows as her sense of smell recognized the familiarity: "... Ephiny?"

Instantly, Ephiny turned herself to the voice, only observing Gabrielle in her shift for a moment longer before the cover was pulled up to her chest.

"I ... came here last night," Gabrielle vocalized, her eyes tracing around the room. "I'm sorry ... that must have been strange."

"No trouble," Ephiny said with sincerity, always wanting the best for the woman sitting with groggy eyes and messy locks of hair. The sight was just about as endearing as she could tolerate. "Why don't we uh ... get ready to eat?" Trying to change the subject, Ephiny turned and spoke again: "We have to decide what to do with the slave."

"Xena? ... What about her?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that she turned half your face black and blue?"

Gabrielle smiled her lop-sided grin at the comment, but pulled herself to the edge of the bed and stretched. "Yeah, well. I need her. I don't want her punished."

"What?!" Ephiny yelled, twisting to catch the arch of Gabrielle's brow. "I mean ... My Queen ... you can't be serious ...?"

"I am. Do we need to discuss this?"

Ephiny shook her head no, and kept her eyes from the queen as Gabrielle made her way to the door.

"Look, Ephiny. I understand your concern, but put your trust in me. I haven't lost my mind. Not quite yet." Gabrielle's smile peppered her words, and the joyful tease caught a smile on Ephiny's lips as well. "I need to speak with her."

"Let me be there."

Gabrielle looked down, leaning onto the door with her morning fatigue. "Eph ... I'm sorry for this. For buying her. If I had known the trouble she'd be ... well. I might have prepared you. You've always been someone I could count on. I should have included you in my thought, I suppose."

Ephiny was wide-eyed with the apology. "No need. Your decisions are yours, My Queen."

They were quiet for another moment, and then Gabrielle let herself out to enter her own private room. She changed into the same suede outfit she wore each day, cleaning the material carefully herself every couple of days. It was her top that saw the worst of it - wearing with each twist of her body and every bend.

Fitted with her usual top baring her midriff and exposing the swell of her chest, Gabrielle looked down to her skirt and brushed the dangling sections of suede into place. She inhaled and exhaled as she thought of her connection to Mother Earth, gathering her bravery and confidence for the day.

Gabrielle walked with confidence out of her room to the early morning sky, and the prisoner resting in the steel casing. The conversation Gabrielle needed to have with her slave was private, so she had thought very specifically about how she might handle that without offending her personal guard. She would have to talk to Ephiny, Pheron, and Graekel about that later.

"What am I doing here?" Xena asked, tired but interrogative. Her voice was calm, but Gabrielle did not take well to commands from strangers. "And what in Tartarus did you do with Ares?"

Gabrielle turned her head and then shook it. "You've got some nerve, I'll say that. As for your answers, I can't say I'll readily give them to you. You can earn them."

Xena took a moment, and then she nodded. "Yeah, fine. How would I do that?"

With both hands clasped behind her back, Gabrielle looked in every way the seasoned warrior she was. "Stay in here today and don't hurt anyone. I need to speak with you alone later today, after dinner."

Xena wondered if a part of her behaviour would include sexual activity, but she shook that thought from her mind. Gabrielle didn't seem the sort to take her unwillingly.

"Did you hear me?" Gabrielle asked, reading Xena's facial cues with ease. "You won't be harmed, but I expect you to keep to your word. No one here should be harmed either."

Xena nodded, giving Gabrielle the only answer she needed. It sent her off to breakfast, bringing some back as a token of good will between her and her pseudo-prisoner.

Throughout the day, Xena was bothered and tested, but she didn't do a thing to harm anyone. She also didn't leave the small cage. She wanted answers and she wanted the queen of the Amazons to see that she could keep to her word. She had a feeling it might be a useful trust to earn.

Gabrielle spoke with the three members of her personal guard - all of which were aghast when she asked how she might have a private audience with Xena. Ephiny was outraged, but understated about her disapproval. Pheron - the tall and quiet guard - was just that. Graekel was the one to speak up, but Gabrielle insisted heartily to her that it was necessary.

When Pheron had heeded her dismissal, and as Graekel followed in a stomping fit, Ephiny stayed back. She watched the struggle on Gabrielle's face, and decided to lighten the mood.

"If you need some ... release, My Queen ... dare I say there are less dangerous options."

Gabrielle was too distracted with the stress of her situation to laugh, but she managed a forced smile as she looked around to the art on the wall of the Hall. "It's not about sex, Ephiny."

"Because there are herds - and I mean herds - of women who would gladly give you any satisfaction you request."

"Herds. Right."

Ephiny was stunned with Gabrielle's attitude. As comically as she had meant her comment, she knew her words were true. Did Gabrielle not understand her worth? Suddenly, Ephiny became interested in Gabrielle's sexual history - something she hadn't thought of much in the past.

"You know Cerhu?" Ephiny grinned, despite her greatest efforts not to do so. "She has told me on many occasions I should offer her ... services."

Gabrielle whipped around, and laughed openly. "What?!"

"Oh yes. She's asked me time-and-time again if I would tell you she's more than ready and willing, My Queen."

Ephiny watched the flush of embarrassment on Gabrielle's face and chest. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Gabrielle cleared her throat: "And why hadn't you said anything to me?"

Ephiny's smile dropped. Would Gabrielle take one up on such an offer? Should Ephiny herself have made an offer of the same years ago?

"I'm teasing," Gabrielle laughed again, pushing Ephiny's shoulder with a playful giggle to follow. "But don't be so shocked. I have basic human needs just like you and Cerhu." Then Gabrielle laughed again, aloud at the very idea. "Gods! That is too sweet. And a little concerning ... no wonder she's had me on my back in the sparring field so often!"

Ephiny got up from her chair at the mention of such acts, but Gabrielle put her hands up.

"Eph, it's okay - I'm only teasing!" she smiled. "Please. Relax ... Maybe she should be offering those 'services' to you after all, huh?"

When Ephiny looked thoroughly embarrassed, Gabrielle patted her guard's shoulder, and smiled in earnest. "Really though ... do what you need to take care of yourself, Ephiny. You're tense lately. Maybe sparring is doing more harm than good, the way you go at it."

"I don't know ..."

"You're right. It's always nice to see a woman who can handle herself in a fight. It does attract a certain kind of woman ... just make sure you let those women watch you instead of shooing them away like you do!"

The conversation she was having with Gabrielle was the most surprising and arousing conversation she had ever had with her queen. Her heart was pounding in her chest and all the warmth in her body flowed between her legs. All she could do to keep from panting was to clench her teeth together, looking all the more tense.

Ephiny's elaborate bodice and straight skirt had Gabrielle biting back her reaction as well, given their conversation. She had had many opportunities to stare at the protective lead of her personal guard, but she had allowed herself no freedom to fantasize. Ephiny worked for her. Ephiny was off-limits. The last thing Gabrielle wanted to do was to force anyone into her bed. Ephiny's body type was so similar to Gabrielle's that the young queen had to wonder the strength her guard held. She had to wonder how intimacy might feel between a powerful leader and herself. Her thoughts rushed to the image of Ephiny underneath her - the long, curly blond hair brushed out over the cot. Smiling outrageously and suddenly, Gabrielle forced a laugh to let it out.

"My Queen?"

"It's nothing, Ephiny. I'm losing my mind is all," she chuckled. "Maybe I ought to take Cerhu up on that offer after all."

With that, Gabrielle left the Hall - the place where they discussed political and tribal matters. She left with a large, goofy smile, rubbing her hands over her face once she reached her way to the tall grass off the path.

It had been too long since she'd been with a woman. Far too long.

Ephiny watched from the entrance of the hall, obsessing over Gabrielle's every move. The queen had managed to keep so many quirks that Ephiny was remiss in the company of others - when she had to ignore Gabrielle's adorably silly moments. As she watched Gabrielle shake her head animatedly in that splendid moment to guide herself back to the path, Ephiny dropped her head back against the wall. She figured she must be losing her mind, too.

Gabrielle walked back to the area Xena was kept caged, and held one of the bars in her sure hand. She leaned and finally locked eyes with the warrior slave. "Listen ... I need to talk to you, but I need to have a private counsel with you. If I let you out of there, are you going to try anything?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be docile as a hare. I guess I'll just be your lifelong pet. Sounds good to me." With that, Xena glared away, angry at being so underestimated in her ability. She grumbled under her breath: "Hades knows why I'm here ..."

"I promised to tell you, and I will, but I need to know you won't try attacking me again, because if you do, they'll kill you ... and I need you alive."

Xena caught those green eyes before they trailed away. There was a fire lit behind the blue in Xena's, and she got to her feet - two feet taller than Gabrielle given her height difference combined with the step of the cage. "I'll be your pet ... for the moment. But I want answers."

"I give you my word," Gabrielle answered, walking around to open the door to the cage, motioning for Xena to exit.

As much as Xena had been through, that cage was beginning to get the better of her knees, and she was secretly grateful for the release. She twisted sharply to the right, and cracked her back. "So where are we going?"

"Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3

Xena groaned at being led around, but allowed it for the sake of her answers. She didn't care that others around them stared in amazement at their queen leading around a warrior many had come to refer to as "The Beast." Xena didn't care about much of anything, in fact. She simply wanted her life back to the way it was. She had never cared what others thought of her - if anything, she had enjoyed others' fear toward her.

Gabrielle led Xena into the Hall, seeing it occupied with her personal guard. With a sigh, Gabrielle put her hands on her hips, quickly accompanied by Xena at her side.

"What is this? I thought I asked to be alone."

Ephiny spoke up first: "It was my decision to override your command, My Queen. My sincerest apologies. I just simply could not leave you with-"

"If this is how you all think of me ..." Gabrielle started, frustrated to be undermined in front of a woman such as Xena: a woman from whom she needed to earn respect in order to speak earnestly with her. "Then I'll take her to my room. Unless there's an army of women awaiting me there?"

Ephiny's eyes dropped to the floor, defeated. "No, My Queen."

Gabrielle turned and walked calmly out, missing the smile Xena couldn't hold in toward the others. Xena caught the glare in Ephiny's eyes, and understood the jealousy.

"Wonder what she'll do with me ..." Xena grinned, starting after Gabrielle in the most joyous state she'd enjoyed in a fortnight. Irritating a protective woman like Ephiny was a fantastic thrill. In truth, the feeling brought Xena back to her childhood, where she had irritated her younger brother, but that memory only hardened her. Her younger brother was dead.

Once inside her room, Gabrielle stood with her arms crossed: "Don't get any ideas."

Xena entered the place and admired it subconsciously. She inhaled, thinking of how she hadn't had a proper place to live in years. "I won't."

"Okay, the dust that Eph- ... one of my guards blew at Ares was magicked to send and exhaust him back to Mount Olympus. He'll have trouble finding you again, but I might only have a few more days left." She was frank with Xena because she knew Xena would understand her approach. "What I need from you is to make a deal with Poseidon."

Xena blinked at her, and arched a brow. "Say again."

Gabrielle heaved a lofty sigh. "I know how this sounds, but I don't want anyone to know. My father ... well, I've checked up on my parents, who were not always the best of people. My guards would think me crazy to stick my neck out for them, but my mother is so heartbroken without him that I fear for her life ... let me start from the beginning. My father was lost at sea."

"And this involves me because ...?"

"You have seen the gods and you speak to them. Isn't that true?"

As true as it was, Xena wondered if she should lie for the woman's sake. It wasn't always so easy, and she might not be able to come through. For some reason, she agreed instead. Gabrielle's truthfulness was infectious. "Yes ... but it's not so simple."

"I know. I think we have two days - maybe three. Could you do this for me?"

"You couldn't have just asked me, huh?"

"And how else does one get the almighty Xena's attention?"

Xena laughed for a beat or two, and lifted both her brows with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "I guess."

"So what do you think about-"

Their conversation was cut short as Xena's hand whipped up and caught something instinctively - an arrow just as it made its way to Gabrielle's temple. Gabrielle's breath was caught in her throat, and Xena twisted around to look to the open window at their side. Given the sounds of the tribe around them, Xena had thought nothing of the creaking and footsteps, but there in the window was an assassin. The bow was still taut in the assassin's grip - the arrow already shot.

"Isn't the practice range a few fields west?" Xena quipped, cracking the arrow in her hand as she looked to the woman in the window for answers.

Gabrielle finally gathered her breath, and put her hand to her chest. "Pheron?!"

"You know this girl?" Xena asked with disbelief.

"She's ... she's one of my personal guards," Gabrielle answered with shock and a terrible sadness.

Xena began to laugh because it came naturally, and she felt no reason to keep it in. There was a certain lightheartedness to the situation for her, and laughter didn't often come so easily. At times, she forced it to show her dark humor, but not often did she feel laughter flow so earnestly.

Gabrielle ignored the warrior standing between her and another arrow, and turned her attention to the traitor in her window. "What in Gods' names are you doing? Why - why are you doing this?"

"Because I can't trust your judgement anymore," Pheron answered with gritted teeth, pulling another arrow from her pack to set it in the bow. "Xena - you're in the way."

"You don't trust MY judgement?!" Gabrielle shouted from behind the taller, darker warrior who seemingly stood to protect her.

Pheron shook her head. "Buying a woman ... buying her as a slave and then demanding to have her alone ... it makes me sick. I thought I trusted you, but now I can't."

"Is that what you planned on doing with me?" Xena grinned, unable to help herself from taking another jab at the situation. "You sure have an odd way of warming a girl between the thighs ..."

Gabrielle's eyes shot around as a physical sign of her frustration before she spoke to Pheron again. "Now I have to charge you with treason! ... Do you have any idea what you've done - not just to yourself but to those who love you?"

Pheron ignored her and spoke to Xena instead. "Move and then run once I get my shot."

Xena snorted yet another laugh, crossed her arms and turned to the traitor at the window. She could hear the growls emanating from the petite blond at her back, and they only added to the hilarity of the situation she found herself in. "Sure ... so I can take the blame for killing this Amazon queen ... Because I enjoy being hunted down by a tribe of raging Amazons?"

Pheron became nervous as she realized that her task might not be so easily accomplished. The arrow pulled taut against the cord of her bow was pulled a little tighter, and she locked her eye on the queen once again.

"Wow ... what have I done without my own personal guard all these years?" Xena chided, becoming irritated herself with the woman at the window. "If you'll excuse us, we WERE having a private conversation."

"It's a matter of honor to all Amazons," Pheron explained quietly, still perched. "You wouldn't understand."

"Pheron-" Gabrielle started, interrupted by Xena.

"I don't have time for this!" Xena exploded, pointing to Pheron. "Put down that arrow and leave us or I'm gonna come over there and strangle you through the window!" It was said so loudly and with such vibration that Gabrielle wondered if maybe she had been missing out by insisting to keep a calm and collected tone with her staff.

Pheron nearly stumbled down to the ground, but managed to keep her balance. "I ... can't just leave."

"Okay then," Xena answered, storming over to the window just as Pheron went to leap to the ground - trapped by a sure grasp pinching at the base of her jaw. Quickly accompanied by Xena's other hand, the woman struggled until she collapsed dead to the ground.

Xena took a moment before turning around and catching the shock on Gabrielle's face. "What? I warned her. At least it saves you the business of her execution."

"You ... CAN'T just play executioner!" Gabrielle yelled, running to the window and looking down the ground at her ex-guard with a troubled sigh. "Oh gods ... what a mess ..."

"Now about this message to Poseidon," Xena asked impatiently, her arms coolly at her sides. Her posture remained undeterred. "What am I supposed to say to him?"

Gabrielle just stared at her, thinking of her personal guard's quick demise.

"What's your father's name anyway? Is he some sort of royalty like you?"

"He's a fisherman," Gabrielle corrected - still dazed. Her hand tenderly went to her forehead. "His ... name is Faelchus."

Xena rolled her eyes, and braced her hands on her lower back. "I don't know ... what do I get for doing this? Ares?"

"Is he ... what you want?" Gabrielle asked, forcing herself back into their conversation. Her grief would have to be kept on pause.

"Is it so shocking I'm interested in men? Typical Amazons to judge me for my interest in men."

"It's not that ... I just ... heard you were more interested in women."

Xena sighed. "Sometimes, yes. But Ares is something else. I need him." At that very moment, Xena blanched - the confession having slipped from her lips. If she had been talking to any other Amazon at that moment, she would have killed her to keep the confession from spreading, but Xena stood very still instead. She shared her panic within her eyes, and Gabrielle exhaled through her nose in return. Warriors of their stature were quite attuned to physical conversations.

"I'll help you find Ares again if you do this," Gabrielle agreed, sitting to rest her forearms on her knees. "I'll do whatever you need."

"Whatever I need?" Xena asked, a piece of her humor returning with the queen's promise. "That's an awfully dangerous promise to make."

Gabrielle ran her hand over her face: "Gods ... maybe I should just resign? ... The fact that I need so badly to help my parents ... I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind anymore for all this ..."

"Getting old?" Xena asked, instinctively sitting aside the blond warrior. She rested on her knees just the same way, knowing the bond of friendship when it came to greet her. Queen Gabrielle was a friend in wait - a friend in need - but could Xena lend her kindness to others? At that point in her life, she wasn't so sure. Instead of outward tenderness, Xena glanced over at the blond. "You feel something for me, huh?"

Ripping her head from the palms of her hands, Gabrielle glared at her in a defensive reaction. "What?"

Xena laughed for a moment and rubbed her eyes. "I mean like you can trust me to tell me all that. Right?"

Gabrielle observed the dark-haired woman for a long while, and slouched her shoulders. "Maybe I do."

"I won't hurt you on purpose," Xena admitted, adjusting her boots absent-mindedly as Gabrielle smiled at the childish sense of honesty the warrior was sharing with her. It felt like the start of a very important friendship - albeit a raw and uncertain one.

"Not on purpose, hmm?"

Xena gestured vaguely to Gabrielle's face. "Not again."

Gabrielle nodded and lent out her hand as a sign of trust. "A pact between us then. You do what you can to help my father and I'll do what I can when you need a favor. I can't promise help from the Amazons, but I promise myself."

Xena saw the hand hanging in wait, and against the voice she heard insisting she wasn't the sort, Xena met that hand with her own.

"Agreed."

After their agreement, Xena asked about the money Gabrielle had used to buy her, and Gabrielle admitted to having saved dinars for all her adult life in case of emergencies. When Xena asked if she spent all her saved money, Gabrielle said she didn't feel like sharing anymore. She insisted on a ruse of hunting so that Xena could leave to attempt to meet with Poseidon, and that Xena be shackled at night so the slave could find another place to sleep for the night instead of the cool and dungeon-esque cage.

Once Gabrielle made her way from the room, she called for Ephiny, who glared at the warrior behind her, but listened attentively as Gabrielle spoke of the incident with Pheron. Ephiny swore to take care of the situation, and gladly went for the wrist cuffs Gabrielle wanted for the slave.

"Where can she sleep?" Gabrielle asked.

Ephiny immediately offered her own services, insisting on being the one to keep an eye on the infamous and destructive warrior.

"It can be anywhere but the private rooms aside yours," Ephiny finished, gesturing to the building where Gabrielle slept. "I can sleep in the Hall or the Scrollerie."

"Yeah, maybe you can read me something," Xena grinned, catching another angry glare from the powerful guard.

"It's gonna be a long night if all I hear from you are smart remarks. You got that?"

Xena shrugged and looked off while Gabrielle stepped up to Ephiny. "You can sleep in the Hall. And please ... have patience." Then Gabrielle turned to Xena who caught her eye with a calmness she hadn't felt in quite some time. "And Xena ... I'm trusting you to sleep. Can I trust you?"

A slight nod was all she needed - a part of her fearing for Ephiny, should the warrior feel so inclined to do her harm. Instead of carrying that worry, Gabrielle re-adjusted the straps of her top and nodded in return.

"Good. Ephiny, you keep the cuffs. Xena wants to go hunt for her own food, and then she'll come back this evening to the Hall. Understood?"

As much as Ephiny wanted to resist Xena going out on her own, she nodded her understanding, and Xena left the queen and her guard standing together.

"You know the risk of what you're doing?" Ephiny started, seeing the certainty on Gabrielle's face.

"Yes."

"Okay then. The only thing we have to do is trust. I hope you keep a lot in me, because keeping her docile for an entire night will be difficult, Gabrielle."

When Ephiny spoke her given name that way, Gabrielle knew Ephiny didn't think it wise, but that only had Gabrielle smiling at her friend. "Yes, Ephiny. I have an ocean of faith in you, my friend. I will be there if I hear anything amiss," Gabrielle offered from the bottom of her heart.

"If you really care about me, you won't be."

Gabrielle regarded Ephiny - stunned. "What?"

"If you knew me really, Gabrielle ... you would know how much I care about you." Ephiny stated in so bold a way, Gabrielle's breath caught in her throat. "You would know I want to protect you ... The woman, not the symbol."

Gabrielle watched wide-eyed as Ephiny walked off.

The words had been spoken so honestly because Ephiny really worried she put her life in her hands by offering to take care of the infamous warlord. Ephiny worried she might not make it through the night if Ares himself had empowered Xena, and she wanted Gabrielle to have an inkling - at the very least - of how she felt for her, should she never get another chance.

Throughout dinner, Gabrielle sat and thought about the hours before, where she thought about what Ephiny had said. With each Amazon entering the Eatery, Gabrielle lifted her head to search for Ephiny, but she never entered. What little appetite Gabrielle had, she satisfied and then lifted herself from the bench.

"Everything alright, My Queen?" Leicka asked, almost tripping over her two feet. Just like many other women, she noted when the queen wasn't acting like herself. However, when anyone but Ephiny referred to Gabrielle as 'My Queen,' it seemed off.

Gabrielle nodded and smiled her way out of the building, patting her hands down onto her skirt and then clapping both hands together. It took her a dozen long strides to find the lead of her personal guard, sparring with Cerhu.

As the queen caught sight of the practice, a warm smile tugged at her lips, and she watched as she made her way over the fence of the match. Cerhu was a very muscular woman who looked masculine by nature with long hair always braided down her back. Ephiny, on the other hand, was not nearly as masculine with her curvature and her size. The fact that they matched each other in the skill of the fight only tugged harder at Gabrielle's growing smile.

The darkness of the evening was setting in slowly as the sun emanated stunning rays of orange and pink. Gabrielle quietly hoisted herself up on the lower half of the fence - using the panels of board as a makeshift seat to lean closer and watch.

The striking and parrying Gabrielle was witness to were impressive, to say the least, but she expected such expertise from the women before her. They had been trained all their lives - as was she - with the techniques of the Amazons. Though not seen as adequate competitors by some, the Amazons had defended and conquered more land than any other tribe in Greece. They were quiet about their victories, but not incapable. They were a humble people.

Even with the wood biting at the back of her thigh, Gabrielle was thoroughly enveloped in the scene. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand and grinned a little wider when Ephiny caught sight of her out of the corner of her eye, and tripped. She had spotted the very same clumsiness from Ephiny on a number of occasions, but Gabrielle had always been too distracted to realize why. Ephiny was interested in her romantically. Gabrielle purred quietly at the idea, covering her grin with her hand as Ephiny recovered from the fall to glance over Cerhu's shoulder at her. It was a bold look of curiosity, but Gabrielle did nothing to answer it. She simply sat and waited.

The entertainment ceased as Ephiny lifted her hand to Cerhu, signalling she'd had her fun. Cerhu looked in the direction Ephiny headed, and she sprinted ahead of the older guard with excitement in the presence of the queen. Ephiny paced herself meaningfully to watch Gabrielle smile and shake hands with the over-confident young woman only to nod her dismissal. It was clear Gabrielle was there to see one person specifically, and Ephiny had to focus so as not to stutter her first words.

"Gabrielle ... My Queen ..."

"I came to watch you ... I hope you take no offense," Gabrielle answered, straightening her back when Ephiny stepped a little closer. She had seen the interest in those deep, green eyes for the first time.

Knowing she had given herself away, Gabrielle moved to step down from the fence. She gave no time for Ephiny to react - she walked around the fence and strode up to her lead guard with confidence in her every breath.

"Do you want me?"

Ephiny nearly tripped over her two feet again, but spaced them apart to keep her balance. She looked to the ground out of habit: "No ... I mean ... where did you hear that?"

Gabrielle smiled: "From you."

When Ephiny looked up again at that porcelain face and the short hair tufting out at Gabrielle's ears, she could no longer hide her affections. She stared with love.

Instinctively, Gabrielle took another step closer, leaving only one step between them still.

"Ephiny ... why didn't you ever tell me?"

"If this is teasing ... I beg you to stop," Ephiny whispered, hurting inside at the prospect that it wasn't real - that Gabrielle was only playing.

Instead of words, Gabrielle used what she knew best: her actions. In one fluid movement, she stepped into Ephiny, and pulled her in for a tight embrace so she felt her breasts press nicely into the half-exposed breasts of her guard. To both of their shock, Gabrielle moaned at the feeling.

Ephiny combed one hand from the base of Gabrielle's neck, into her hair, and wrapped her other arm tightly around the slender waist. She breathed in and out, closing her eyes.

"Gabrielle ... what're you doing to me?"

Gabrielle moaned again at the very idea of their closeness, and tightened her arms over Ephiny's shoulders. "Nothing ... I just wanted to feel this."

"How long?" Ephiny croaked out, her knees threatening to give out on her.

Gabrielle licked her lips. "Ephiny ... could we ..." Gabrielle started, forcing herself to pull away to step flat onto her feet once again. "Could we ... speak privately?"

The look that Gabrielle gave her then melted Ephiny completely. Gabrielle wanted her. It was the look Ephiny had dreamed about night after night, and there it was before her - in reality. It was a look so feral and fierce that Ephiny mumbled a moan of her own at the very idea of having Gabrielle alone in the mood she was in.

Gabrielle started on her way to their rooms, but so many women were making their way around that Ephiny didn't trust herself to walk inconspicuously all that way. Instead, she called after Gabrielle and motioned to the nearest building for their conversation.

What was titled a conversation quickly turned into more as the two strong women found themselves alone. Ephiny barricaded the door and moved over to Gabrielle with the intent of lust in her eyes.

Her breath was shallow and her heart raced as she reached a hand out to Ephiny. She tugged on the top of her black leather skirt, and drew her so close their lips just nearly touched. They stood, panting together, until Gabrielle made her move and locked lips with the strong, passionate woman she had never allowed herself to objectify. She kissed Ephiny with all the excitement she had kept pent up inside herself over her past two years of abstinence. She wondered how long it had been since Ephiny had made love, but thought better than to ask. Even as the thought crossed her mind, Ephiny's hands on her distracted her of all logical thought.

Gabrielle had never seen an Amazon with such positive energy maintain the power and strength Ephiny did while still maintaining her femininity. And that woman was attracted to HER. Gabrielle moaned against Ephiny's thicker lips as her guard raced hungry hands over her back.

"I could just come back ...?"

Ephiny spun around as her instincts took her over, protecting Gabrielle's body with her own, still panting as she scowled at the figure in the doorway.

"What in Hades are you doing here?!"

Xena's outfit was crunched in a way that spoke of her vigorous exercise, but Ephiny wasn't wondering about Xena's adventures. She was angry about the interruption of her own. Again, she hissed at the intruder.

"Get out!"

"Alright. Am I free then?" she asked, reminding Ephiny of the reason for her appearance.

"We ... were just ..." Gabrielle began, laughing at herself mid-sentence as she pushed past Ephiny. "Well. I should ... get going. I'm sorry, Ephiny," she smiled with romance behind her eyes. "Bad timing."

"Gets the best of us all!" Xena chimed in a little too loudly for the situation.

Ephiny glared at her, which only fuelled Xena's irritating comments. Ephiny was reminding her of her younger days again.

"I mean ... I could always watch ..." Xena started again, cuing Ephiny's fists to dance their way over to her face, but Xena was quick to block the move.

Gabrielle put herself between them, and glared at Xena. "No more." Then, much softer, she turned to Ephiny and put her hands on the shoulders she was now allowed to admire. She pulled her eyes up to focus. "Keep calm and everything will be fine. Alright?"

Ephiny took that sincere advice to heart as Gabrielle left them alone in the Hall. Ephiny and Xena finally found some peace in the quiet between them.

As exhaustion set in, Xena couldn't help one last comment from slipping out: "She's not bad-looking, I'll say that ..."

"You'll say nothing if I cut out your tongue in your sleep."

Xena grinned in the dark against the glow of the candles set up around the edges of the Hall, and closed her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Ephiny awoke to complete darkness and forced her eyes to train themselves on something in the dark. With a whoosh, she darted what had been aimed at her, and she leapt to her feet without properly assessing the situation.

When Ephiny remembered who she was sleeping across from, she called out: "Xena?"

"Finally!" the groggy warrior answered in the dark between them, causing Ephiny to wonder why there was no light. It was complete darkness, and the morning was hours away.

"The candles ...?"

"They were _candles_. I put them out. Who can sleep in all that light?" Xena huffed, the sound of her turning onto her side carrying to the guard's ears.

Ephiny frowned in confusion as she eased her way to her knees, where she had slept. "Is there some reason other than your hideous nature that you're throwing things at me in my sleep now?"

"Yeah. Your moaning was keeping me up."

Ephiny's eyes were completely wide. She was mortified at the very thought. "... What?"

"I don't care. Just go to sleep." Xena instructed plainly. "And quit thinking about her."

"How can I not?" Ephiny asked under her breath, causing a hearty laugh from the warrior ten feet away.

The two of them slept the night through until the crack of dawn, when Mysphan - a young and inexperienced Amazon woman - opened the doors to the Hall.

"Get out!" Xena growled, throwing one of the heavy declaration scrolls from the nearby table so quickly that it bowled the young woman over into the grass, who then shut the door and scurried away.

Ephiny's lips were pulled into a tight smile at the act, but she forced herself up to her feet. She would have liked to behave the same way, but instinctive choices were not always the wisest decisions. That thought immediately led her mind to her lust over Gabrielle, and she shook her head. She hadn't meant to put her hands all over Gabrielle, but instinct had taken her over.

"Gods, what an awful sleep," Xena groaned, getting to her own feet as she took in the expression on the guard's face. "You look terrible."

Ephiny didn't blame the woman for her lack of tact, but the irritation was still present. "Thanks. Listen ... I need you to keep quiet about Gabrielle and I. I know you love to harass me, but for the queen's sake ... I need you to keep quiet."

Xena was listening as she straightened out her leathers. "Is someone after her?"

"You saw Pheron the other day ... there are women here who are questioning her leadership around these parts. It needs to blow over for the next couple of days. No one can hear right now or it might mean another attempt on her life. Especially given your little run-in with Pheron ... This tribe hasn't been quite the same in the last year or so ... things have been hard."

"Just what I needed - another sob story."

"Will you just shut your mouth and listen and for once?!"

Gabrielle had just stepped toward the building when she heard Ephiny's growl. She was drawn to the anger and frustration she had heard many times before walking toward the women training beneath her. With eyes closed, Gabrielle listened to a few panting breaths, and then Xena's answer.

"I don't care. I just need to get out of here ..."

But the words sounded full. There was a conversation within a conversation, and Gabrielle frowned because she didn't understand. She didn't think Ephiny did, either.

The room was quiet for a minute, and then Ephiny spoke up again: "Why did you sleep here all night?"

"... Gabrielle and I have an understanding. I can keep my word."

Ephiny scoffed, and Gabrielle grinned at the audacity of her guard to be so bold.

"Oh, you can?"

Then there was a clamber, and Gabrielle wondered if she should intervene, but the voices returned before she had formed a decision.

"Shut it." It was Xena's voice, humorous and light. She might have even been laughing.

"I think you DO need to get out of here," Ephiny teased. "Before you return to your human state, and start enjoying your life again."

A long string of silence urged Gabrielle forward, and she pushed open the door. She was surprised beyond words to see Xena had pinned Ephiny to the wall by her neck. Gabrielle ran over and disabled Xena's hold as she looked in disbelief at the chaotic rage in the dark warrior's eyes.

"Are you here to strangle us all?!" Gabrielle growled, giving Xena a shove when she didn't seem to have shaken herself from the mood. "Hey - shake it off or we'll take this outside."

Xena huffed with cheeks so red they were hot.

Gabrielle panted with the sudden commotion, turning only momentarily to Ephiny, and then back to Xena. "It was a joke ... you can dish it out, but you can't take it ...?"

Ashamed of her actions, Xena tugged at her bangs, and messily rubber her head. "I'm ... used to a different crowd." With her head bowed and tired of her own mistakes, she sighed. "I don't ... I didn't mean to snap."

Gabrielle left no room for excuses, standing one short pace from Xena. "Well if you snap that way again, I can't have you visit this tribe again. Do you understand? You'll have to keep your control here, Warrior."

Xena lifted her sullen eyes to see that Gabrielle had every confidence that sort of control was in her power. Just like that, self-control over anger seemed attainable to a warrior who had spent her life feeling it wasn't. Xena was shaken by the shift. Gabrielle could feel a change, too, but she couldn't be sure of what.

Ephiny had never felt so supported and protected by one's reaction. She smiled sweetly at Gabrielle, even knowing her life hadn't been in danger. Xena had only meant to threaten her. The message Gabrielle delivered to Xena, however, was just as powerful.

The three of them stood in silence until Xena pushed her way past the two Amazons and out of the Hall altogether. "I have work to do," she said to no one in particular, disappearing from view.

Gabrielle turned to Ephiny. "She's doing something for me ... If you need to know what it is ... I'll tell you."

Ephiny admired the bravado in Gabrielle's voice, but she could see the blond queen was deeply in turmoil over the secret. She smiled each time Gabrielle dipped her head in that way, and allowed the bangs to fall into her eyes. Gabrielle was so beautifully simple at times that Ephiny was lost. It was an infectious compassion that Gabrielle held for others.

"Hey," Ephiny whispered, lifting Gabrielle's chin with her finger. "We all keep secrets, and we all have our reasons." When Gabrielle locked eyes with her, she continued: "I trust yours."

After thanking Ephiny profusely, Gabrielle apologized for the other evening. She admitted to having had feelings for Ephiny for quite some time, but Ephiny could sense Gabrielle still held guilt mixed in with her romantic feelings. Gabrielle insisted they take their time in understanding their next move, but she also expressed her desire to kiss Ephiny again in quite explicit detail. The queen was certainly complex.

"Gabrielle ..." Ephiny smiled, running her finger along the neckline by Gabrielle's collarbone. The sexuality of the act was unintended, but Ephiny was enjoying it all the same. "I think we do have to be smart about this ... but ... just don't shut me out."

When that roaming finger traced a little too closely to eager cleavage, Gabrielle inhaled a little too quickly, and the breath caught in her throat.

Ephiny laughed softly, dropping her eyes to Gabrielle's incredibly kissable lips. "I'd better keep training those girls out there ... give us some time to think."

"I'll get you for that," Gabrielle teased as Ephiny had started toward the door. "Doing this to me ..."

"Something tells me I wouldn't survive your revenge, My Queen ..." Ephiny smiled warmly, turning to leave - her curls relaxing with every stride.

"It's been a long time," Gabrielle blurted with a soft blush to accompany her unabashed honesty. She admired the glow on Ephiny at hearing the woman she loves admit such desperation for her.

Ephiny lingered for the door a moment longer, watching Gabrielle squirm. "Don't tempt me."

"If I do?"

Ephiny asked quietly, excitedly. "Then I would be sure to clear my day so no one comes asking for me when I've kept you till sunset."

Gabrielle swallowed hard, her chest heaving. With one simple word, she could have all the pleasure she'd been waiting for, but she knew she had to think of others, too. The young women training with Ephiny were heading out on an expedition with Ephiny and some of the other trainers in a couple of days, and Gabrielle knew they needed the practice. She didn't want to let Ephiny go, but she pushed her shoulders back and knew that responsibility was something that lived deep in her heart.

"I know that posture," Ephiny said smoothly, nodding. "I'll see you this evening."

Gabrielle stood stiffly in place so as not to rush the guard or knock her off her feet. "... I ... will be sleeping early this evening."

"I'll be down after dinner," Ephiny grinned, making her exit as Gabrielle stared openly at her body.

With all the strength Gabrielle had, she marched herself out of the Hall, and went about her daily duties. She walked the grounds, met with some members of the tribe, read new scrolls of complaint, and ate her lunch with two women looking to begin training of their own. By mid-afternoon, all Gabrielle could think of was how Ephiny would feel - naked and pressed against her.

Ephiny's strength that day had only improved with her excitement and determination to show her love for Gabrielle later that evening. The woman she had fallen for long ago was thinking about her and wanting her. The world was just and fair.

Unable to help herself, Ephiny slipped off after lunch, and admired her queen from afar before the young women came back to train. She sat on a high branch, watching as Gabrielle spoke with others on a path that cut from the field to the buildings of their tribe. Ephiny smiled at Gabrielle's adamant insistences to those other women, and quickly fantasized about her strong queen giving in to each of her requests with a simple, intimate touch.

Ephiny sat and watched Gabrielle from the top of a tree as she snacked on fruit when suddenly she saw something that troubled her. Gabrielle's conversation with the young women had just ended when Xena appeared out of nowhere, and grabbed Gabrielle by the arm. Ephiny used her arms to brace her weight, and drew her feet under her thighs on the sturdy tree branch. She waited there - perched - as she watched Gabrielle tug back her arm and say something to the aggressive warrior. Ephiny held her breath as if that would allow her to hear their quiet words.

Gabrielle was beyond stunned when the warrior had come from nowhere to yank her away from the path. Instinctively, Gabrielle had made clear she wasn't one to be tugged around.

"Sorry," Xena muttered with a roll of her eyes, obviously quite used to treating women so roughly.

Gabrielle scowled.

"Okay. It's set. I spoke with Poseidon."

Gabrielle's face lit up. "And ...? Did he know my father?"

"Faelchus of Potidaea. He knew him. He was also really mighty and angry with me, but I ... It's set. Your father will be sent home."

Without the ability to maintain her happiness, Gabrielle hugged Xena. She gave her a sincere hug, and then landed back on the flats of her feet with a large and happy smile.

Ephiny's eyes went wide as she noticed the momentary look on Xena's face at the friendly embrace. It reminded Ephiny of the many momentary hugs she'd received from her affectionate queen in years past - before she had realized her love for the petite blond. Ephiny's heart raced at the suggestion, but she knew better than to question Gabrielle. She only worried for the other warrior - the dark and unpredictable warlord-turned-slave that stood just a breath away from her love.

What they were saying, Ephiny couldn't tell. She could only watch as Gabrielle received good news.

"You're free," Gabrielle whispered, her cheeks still glowing. "I'm ... sorry, for keeping you in a cage."

Xena sighed to relax the tension in her shoulders. "Uh huh. Now will you help me find Ares?"

Gabrielle smiled, uncontrollably. "I will help you first thing tomorrow - at first light."

"Why not now?" Xena asked, seeing the embarrassed look in Gabrielle's eyes. She shook her head at the queen and put both hands on her hips. "Look, just be careful with her, will you? ... Warriors give themselves to love, but they give themselves to death, too ... Just remember that." Xena was still intent on ignoring and disliking Gabrielle to a certain degree, so she let herself forget that last line as she walked off.

So touched with Xena's insight was Gabrielle that she stood in awe moments after Xena had turned to take her leave.

Once Gabrielle had a moment to herself, she felt she was being watched. With trained eyes, she looked around herself to no avail, and then up to the trees. With nothing to see, Gabrielle shook off her feeling, and headed to the Eatery for an early dinner.

As Ephiny saw the direction of her queen, she quickly repelled the trunk of the old tree, irritating her right thigh at the feel of the old bark. The moment Ephiny was a good leap away from the ground, she saw a sight that had her falling with a thud to the dirt. Just as quickly, she bounced back up and dusted her outfit with distraction while she came face-to-face with Xena, the semi-slave. It was clear to her Xena had never quite filled the position of slave.

"Xena ..." Ephiny started, clearly having been caught watching the conversation. Ephiny was as awkward then as she was experienced in the art of battle.

"Yes, Soldier?"

Ephiny found humor in the languid way Xena was leaning onto the trunk of the tree - mocking her, most certainly.

With a shrug, Ephiny spoke bluntly. "Alright, well - this is exactly what it looks like."

"You don't say," Xena grinned, straightening to the defeat in the other woman's expression. It was the posture that had Ephiny realizing the warrior's change in outfit, and she was fascinated with the circular pattern of the warrior's breastplate.

"Is that your personal armour?"

Xena nodded an affirmative reply, not having to glance at the gestured article. She had been so often looking down to her own breastplate in thought that she had each curve and scratch memorized. The color of her brown leathers and the polished appeal of her breastplate had always complemented one another nicely, and she was well-aware of the impressive look.

Ephiny looked curiously at the design. "Is it Amazon-made?"

"No."

"It certainly could be," Ephiny whispered, marvelling at the symbolism she saw in the metal coils and braces. However, Xena didn't allow for the staring much longer. Before Ephiny could compliment the pieces again, she took off.

Ephiny didn't stop her. She had places to be and a beautiful queen to visit.

It was a short trek back to the sleeping rooms of the personal guard when Ephiny took to jogging down the path. Other Amazons who saw her rush past had assumed it was urgent business as she was so closely affiliated with the queen, but business came and business went. There were other women who paid her attention, but Ephiny was so shut off to others that the women only allowed themselves appreciative glances.

When Ephiny had gathered up her courage to knock on the queen's door to her room, she heard crunching steps on the gravel behind her. As she turned, she saw the honest smile of the woman she loved. Gabrielle ruffled her own hair on the left side, sweeping it over to the other, and re-positioned her stance.

"Should we ... talk in my room then?"

"You don't entertain company in your private quarters, My Queen," Ephiny lovingly reminded her, keeping clear the need for secrecy - at least for the time being.

Gabrielle shook the hair from her face, and let out the laugh of a much older woman. "I feel like we've been needing to have this talk for a long time."

With shaky fingers, Ephiny hurried to her own door, and opened it for Queen Gabrielle. She watched the confident woman walk over her threshold, and her heart started pounding in her ears. "Me too."

With the door closed soundly behind her, Ephiny let her breath out slowly. She tried to keep her knees locked so as not to keel over with excitement, but she knew she couldn't lean against the door all evening. A teasing smile found itself as she realized she had never felt so giddy in her life.

By the time Ephiny sensed Gabrielle's movement, the queen was pressed up against her with Ephiny's back still pushed to the door. A sharp intake of air was among many reactions from the excitable Ephiny - her heart racing at the feel of soft breasts pressed against her own. Gabrielle had trapped her with her body, and the sexual appeal was too great. Ephiny didn't trust herself to speak.

"I'm returning that tease you gave to me earlier," Gabrielle smiled, reading the weakness of Ephiny's body and only pressing deeper. Her arms drew themselves up to the door, resting her elbows on Ephiny's shoulders. The arousal could be felt in the air between them. Gabrielle felt her body's reaction to the feeling, and moaned. After so much time of watching, she was doing.

Ephiny couldn't speak. She could hardly stand.

"Come to me," Gabrielle commanded with a sexual energy that had Ephiny follow after her without hesitation. She sat down on the bed herself, looking up to Ephiny who stood before her.

Never before had Ephiny wanted to pull a woman around as she did with Gabrielle - the queen brought out a side of herself she had never explored. The growing smirk on Gabrielle's face said she wouldn't have resisted, but all Ephiny could bring herself to do was take Gabrielle's face in her hands. She looked lovingly down into those eyes, and yearned for a lifetime of just the same.

Gabrielle had been with other women, but none as high in rank or battle experience as Ephiny. She couldn't help but wonder how it would be different with a woman possibly stronger than herself. Would Ephiny be able to lift her? Keep her pinned? Would Ephiny even want to pin her?

"I would never want to hurt you," Ephiny finally breathed, feeling a sensation sweep over her that was difficult to control. She wanted to have Gabrielle. "You would tell me to stop if I hurt you, wouldn't you?"

Gabrielle immediately felt a sort of guilt Ephiny held about accidentally hurting one of her lovers, but Gabrielle didn't press for answers. She simply smiled and brought her hands to Ephiny's hips. "I would stop you myself."

Finally, Ephiny took another short step, landing one of her legs between Gabrielle's. It was a sensual moment as Ephiny leaned close and sealed a heated kiss with their wanton lips. The queen was awaiting her next move, and she would not disappoint.

Gabrielle melted with the kiss, tingles fluttering through her cheeks while Ephiny held her face and kept a fluid kiss between them. It was soft and intimate. It was just as Gabrielle had desired herself in secret for quite some time.

Unable to wait, Gabrielle started to lean herself back, onto the bed. Ephiny gladly climbed over her, flipped with another fierce kiss from Gabrielle. The queen was strong and sure, and Ephiny couldn't help but smirk as Gabrielle got up onto her knees to pull off her own top.

Ephiny's hands grabbed Gabrielle's, and she flipped them again so that Gabrielle laid on her back. "I hope you don't mind me doing that myself, My Queen," Ephiny whispered hotly, seeing just how desperate Gabrielle was after all. A finger traced its way into the neckline of the suede article of clothing, and Gabrielle shivered irreversibly. Panting.

"Eph ... please don't make me wait ..."

There was not a thing on earth that could have kept Ephiny from Gabrielle in that moment. She kissed Gabrielle while she slipped off the red top to press her hands fully into the waiting breasts. They were warm and the nipples had pebbled into her palms. Ephiny growled quite accidentally, and Gabrielle moaned at the sound. She shared her body with her trusted guard without hesitance. She was lighted with the love she felt from the protective warrior, arching her back when Ephiny dipped her head to take those sensitive nipples into her mouth.

When Gabrielle spread her legs instinctively, Ephiny no longer had any control to take things slowly. She undressed Gabrielle while kissing and nipping at her flesh until Gabrielle pulled her face close with tears in her eyes.

Ephiny was shaken with the sight - tucking her arms under Gabrielle with worry. "Are you alright ...?"

Gabrielle's lip quivered with a realization that struck her completely: "I love you ..."

If people were known to fly, Ephiny would have drifted up into the air with the confession that both surprised and lifted her. There was nothing sexier Gabrielle could have said to her. There was nothing more beautiful.

"I ... I have loved you ... for a long time," Ephiny finally choked out, feeling Gabrielle's nimble fingers at her leathers, undressing her in turn.

"I know," Gabrielle breathed, "I could see it just now ..."

Ephiny pressed herself fully on top of Gabrielle, kissing her again.

When Ephiny pulled back to continue her exploration of the queen's body, Gabrielle stopped the motion. She held tigtly to Ephiny's shoulders, tense.

"I'm scared."

Ephiny relaxed on top of Gabrielle, watching her carefully. "... May I ask why, My Queen?"

Gabrielle smiled at the name reserved for formal conversations, and shyly looked down to her side. "I don't know ... I'm scared to be this vulnerable, I guess ..."

"Well I believe I have been vulnerable with my love for you much longer, Gabrielle ... so if you're looking for someone who understands ... she's right here."

Gabrielle smiled again, her lust renewed. Her hands smoothed over Ephiny's shoulders as she untied the top and discarded the piece of clothing to allow her eyes to drift. Ephiny was beautiful.

Ephiny's hands rested over Gabrielle's hips - one hand taken by the queen to trace inside a heated thigh.

"Touch me here ...?" Gabrielle whispered, arching with the touch.

Ephiny pleased Gabrielle with fascination and love, shocked at the turn of events after Gabrielle had loudly felt her release.

The woman who had always prided herself on her strength was shoved onto her back by a smaller, beautiful queen who then pounced and straddled her. Ephiny was quite surprised with Gabrielle's intimate strength. On her back, Ephiny jokingly tried to lift herself up again, but was pinned with certainty, so she fell back laughing.

"Can't get away ... not when I need you here ..." Gabrielle whispered with a grin of her own, lowering herself with kisses.

Ephiny watched breathlessly with wide eyes as Gabrielle lowered herself between strong thighs. Fingers lightly traced over the flesh there as Ephiny shook in earnest just before a mouth planted itself in a most vulnerable spot.

Ephiny had never felt such pleasure in her life. One very confident tongue gave her the most incredible orgasm of her life, and fingers served to render her completely exhausted. As Gabrielle had her, she combed her fingers gently through the soft, golden hair. Their eyes connected as often as was possible, and it was as intimate an act as Ephiny had ever felt, allowing her orgasm to take her body over.

Gabrielle collapsed there beside Ephiny as they both attempted to recover - as they inevitably fell asleep side-by-side.

A few hours into her sleep, Ephiny awoke to find the candles had just nearly burnt out. She allowed her eyes to take in the sight beside her as Gabrielle slept - admiring the woman in all her naked beauty.

When she laid a hand softly on Gabrielle's abdomen, Gabrielle moaned in her sleep and turned onto her side. Ephiny gently pulled the queen's back to her chest, and they laid that way for the rest of the night.

The night was chilled and dark, but as morning crept closer, Xena headed into the tribe's Amazon village. She had never liked Amazons, but Gabrielle was different. She justified it to herself as she thought to the group of men she had been working with lately to gather the resources from a nearby town. They would be wondering where she was if she hadn't returned back in time. She only hoped Ares wouldn't be difficult to find again.

Having helped herself to an apple off a nearby tree, Xena sat and plunked herself down onto a bale of hay near the training fences. She ate her apple as the sun began to rise, fixing her eyes on Gabrielle's rooms to hold the woman to her promise for help. However, what she saw was not what she had expected. In fact, she grinned at the sight of a young Amazon queen kissing her guard good morning as she hurried to her own room.

Xena chewed the piece of apple in her mouth with a crunch, rotating the apple in her hand. She felt something, but ignored the sensation and took another bite of the apple. The sun rose from behind her, and it shone over her head - warming her back with its slow ascension into the sky.

Sitting with her back leaned to the fence, Xena crossed her ankles and waited for the queen to make her morning appearance. Xena figured it was a clumsy morning as Gabrielle took more than enough time to straighten herself up and nearly stumbled over a familiar rock on her path.

Xena allowed Gabrielle to piece together what she had just seen - a grin affixed to her lips. "Morning, Sunshine. How good of you to-"

"Save it," Gabrielle interrupted, trying desperately not to grin sheepishly in return at being caught. It was so embarrassing she nearly walked back to her room, but then she straightened her shoulders and looked Xena in the eye. "Do we have a problem here?"

Xena stood to her full height, wiping the knowing smirk from her face. "None I can think of."

Gabrielle nodded, and looked to the sun. "We'd better get moving. My guard is counting on my return before sunset."

Xena bit back her response, and simply followed down the path after Gabrielle.


	5. Chapter 5

"Remind me again why you're doing this."

Gabrielle inhaled deeply, sitting with her legs crossed on the dew-covered grass. Her nostrils tingled with the cool morning air, eyes still closed as she spoke: "I told you - I do this every morning. I WOULD have been doing this with the women of my tribe if you hadn't been watching my room this morning. Thankfully, Ephiny can step in and teach."

Xena watched with a lifted brow at Gabrielle's tight posture and controlled breathing. "Uh huh ... so you sit and breathe. Can't that be something you do while we move?"

"It's an Indian practice that comes from a very soulful religion, if you must know," Gabrielle stated as calmly as was possible. Her arms slowly reached in front of her, where she stretched, and moved her feet out and stretched them back, too. Her breathing was practiced and slow as she arched into her pose. "It's designed to relax and elevate your mind, body, and soul."

"I asked you why - not what it is. I know what it is," Xena announced dismissively, sitting against a tree as she closed her eyes.

Gabrielle opened her eyes to the confession, breaking her pose to lift her head and watch the mysterious dark warrior. With Xena's head turned, Gabrielle saw that there was a very feminine bone structure to the warrior's face. There was a hidden femininity about Xena that confused Gabrielle, but she forced her head down into her position instead of wondering any longer. Her thoughts actively went to Ephiny and the face she had memorized the night before. She smiled at the soft eyes she had come to know - the body she had just recently touched.

Xena sighed carelessly in her spot, opening her eyes to glance over to a spot of dead grass. "So how do you plan to find him if Ares can't find me himself?"

Gabrielle was balancing on one foot and one hand when she flexed her other up, over her head. "A shamaness who gave me the powder ... she's not too far from here. I need to find her. She's an ex-Amazon, but she knows me. She should be expecting us if it was destined to be."

Xena tensed: "Who is she?"

The breathing Gabrielle carried through to her next pose was interrupted when she heard feet crunching to an inch before her face. Gabrielle opened her eyes. She held her pose with purpose and strength as she expelled another steady breath. "Can I help you ...?"

"Who?" Xena asked, ready to lift Gabrielle to her feet with frustration.

Gabrielle took her time breathing once again as Xena showed her impatience, exhaling as she arched again: "They call her Alti."

"What?!"

Then Xena DID grab Gabrielle. She crouched beside her, and grabbed onto the straps of her top without warning. Gabrielle stumbled from her pose, but was kept suspended in her pose with Xena's firm grasp on her clothing. Gabrielle focused with caution on Xena, eyes telling of the fear flashing through her and immediate, instinctive defense in her muscle memory.

"How did you come to see Alti?!" Xena demanded, her arm flexed with the effort to keep Gabrielle's weight lifted. It was instinct.

"Relax," Gabrielle instructed, answering sincerely: "I don't know."

As she answered, Gabrielle pried Xena's hands from her top using a defensive technique an older mentor had showed her in her teen years.

With her grasp loosened, Xena pulled Gabrielle up onto her feet effortlessly.

"You tell me right now how you plan on getting any help from the devil itself!" Xena growled, giving Gabrielle a shove away from her. "If the powder was from Alti, Ares could be dead right now! What have you done?! What am I gonna do ...?"

As Xena paced, Gabrielle straightened her top and walked into Xena's path without pause. "Look, I know you're angry, but I don't want you grabbing me like that again. I don't appreciate it, and I can't have others seeing that."

"I'll do what I want!" Xena snapped, rubbing her hands over her face as her body tingled from anger.

"If you pull me around like that again, I'm gonna stop you."

Xena was listening, but she pretended indifference. "... And how will you do that?"

"Hurt you, if need be."

Xena's angry thoughts stilled as she turned in disbelief at what she was hearing. Her expression shifted ever-so-slowly from fury to that of amusement at the petite queen threatening her with physical violence - not that Gabrielle was incapable, but because Xena herself was a legend.

"Are you threatening me?" Xena asked - the smallest hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

Gabrielle met her eyes, unblinkingly. "No. I'm warning you."

Xena stood on legs placed shoulder-width apart, her fists pressing at her hips while she stared at the daring woman before her. She didn't like the tone Gabrielle was using with her, but she did respect it. It was how she would have reacted to someone pushing her around. The very stance and insistence had Xena thinking to her unfair strength used against others on an instinctive level.

Gabrielle pushed past her: "Since you've ruined my relaxation routine, we might as well make our way out now."

With fascination, Xena stared another moment. She could see that Gabrielle would stand to the promised warning, and the very thought did its work at taming Xena's rage. She realized she wouldn't want to fight Gabrielle a second time. Feeling the weight of her thoughts, Xena took a step aside and gestured to make light of the woman who had affected her so sincerely. "... After you."

Gabrielle sighed as they stepped past leaning trees and scratching leaves. "I can see you have no liking for Amazon women, but I suppose you'll have to make an exception for me for the time being."

Xena followed, smiling uncontrollably - the tell of an inappropriate joke surfacing. "I don't know about you, but I'll definitely make an exception for Ephiny ..."

Gabrielle's eyes went wide, and she did her part not to smile - whipping around to make clear she did not appreciate the comment. "Excuse me?"

Xena laughed, surprised with her ability to laugh among the Amazons. "Oh, nothing ... I can just appreciate a nice uh ..." Then Xena gestured her hand as if to squeeze a woman's backside. "You know ..."

Gabrielle blushed red and swatted Xena's hand. "Cut it out." When she twisted around again and continued her way up an incline, she grumbled: "Don't make me hurt you."

"You have almost as bad a temper as your lover," Xena teased, enjoying the splendid frustration Gabrielle couldn't help but reveal. The smaller woman had a very subtle tell when teased, and it made Xena laugh all over again, admiring the quiet nature to the powerful blond queen. The stoic way Gabrielle spoke to her reminded Xena of herself, leading her to wonder where Gabrielle had come from and what her history had been. Xena found herself wanting to ask a plethora of personal questions, smiling when she realized Gabrielle wouldn't be very quick to answer them. Gabrielle could seem entirely cold, but Xena knew better than that. There was something very curiously refreshing about Queen Gabrielle.

The two warriors walked staggered for a mile or so before hitting a road.

Xena asked which way, and by that time, Gabrielle had been thinking of Ephiny for some time. Xena could see it in the woman's falsely stoic features.

"That way - up there," Gabrielle answered with a gesture, taking the lead as Xena smirked her way alongside her.

"You're not gonna share how it was, are you?"

Gabrielle pretended not to understand what Xena spoke of: "What?"

"Well, it must have been good if you're thinking about it now," Xena teased, surprised when she didn't get one of the many extreme reactions she gained from other women for such taunting humor. Gabrielle was able to keep herself calmed and confident to a fault.

When Gabrielle was lost deep in her thoughts without an answer in return, Xena chuckled to herself and continued: "You know ... the first time I was ever with an Amazon woman ... it was ... pretty nice."

Gabrielle stopped in her tracks and made obvious her confusion with her expressive facial features. "I thought you didn't like Amazons ...?"

"Who said I like them?" Xena grinned, earning a swat to her shoulder.

"Honestly - what is wrong with you?" Gabrielle gasped, turning a moment too late to hide the smile pulling at her lips.

Xena watched the red suede crinkle with the lunged steps, shaking her head at her own confessions. "Yeah ... it was nice and soft. A nice, loving, precious night ..."

"If you think this will get me to confess something to you," Gabrielle chided in return, tossing Xena a knowing stare that told of her experience and wisdom. "Then you don't know me very well."

Xena thought just how true that was.

As their conversation had winded down, they neared a town called Helmaes which was situated almost entirely on a hill. There was a plateau at the top, but by the time they had reached the top, both Xena and Gabrielle were worse for wear. Neither, however, would speak of their fatigue.

There was something very rare about Gabrielle. Xena hadn't been able to place it, but the more she watched Gabrielle, the more she felt the young queen would surprise her one day with a depth she hadn't seen before. Hints were behind the knowing smiles Gabrielle kept under her control and the way her green eyes observed all she saw. Hints were something Xena could pick out with her own expertise with women, but Xena wasn't willing to throw Gabrielle into the same category as the others she'd known. It somehow didn't feel right.

Gabrielle stopped upon reaching the hilltop, where the two warriors stopped in their tracks to see that the town had been overcome by snakes. It looked as though someone had dropped a bag of snakes in the town center, and many had gathered to keep the snakes from exploring among the crowds.

Xena's eyes went wide at the sight, immediately suspecting purposeful harm, but unknowing of what to do.

Gabrielle was breathless with surprise and fearsome of snakes, but her eyes immediately raced to any materials about that could help her protect the town from the slithering danger. Without a word, Gabrielle bolted into a nearby general store.

In normal circumstances, Xena might have teased that it wasn't the time to pillage the town's shops, but she found herself a little torn with what to do. She wondered what someone had done to deserve a snake pit in their home town, but felt little responsibility to help.

Gabrielle came bolting out of the shop just as quickly with canvas bags that had held potatoes. She hurried her way through the crowd, and spoke with a man holding a long, thick stick out to keep the snakes at bay.

"Give me that stick!"

Xena watched as she wandered a little closer, close enough to hear the conversation but not close enough to be shoved with the commotion of the crowd.

"No!" the man responded immediately, nudging yet another snake. "I've gotta protect these people!"

"Let me wrangle the snakes into these bags! We'll set them free somewhere else!"

"I'm trying to kill them!" he yelled back, in awe of the woman's authoritative voice.

"Look - do you want my help or not?"

The man looked her over for a moment: "Who ARE you?!"

Xena found herself chuckling at the scene, where Gabrielle forced herself into a dangerous situation for seemingly no reason.

The queen eventually helped those people with the snakes, and spoke to one of the elders about the problem. The leadership Gabrielle had shown was contagious - her need to do the right thing. It was an infectious drive that Xena felt lacking in herself.

"This is all nice," Xena said as she had come to stand beside Queen Gabrielle. "But what about our reason for ... visiting?"

Gabrielle excused herself from the conversation she was having to explain to Xena that Alti would be back later that day, and they had to wait for her. Xena kept a very close subconscious eye on Gabrielle as she noticed the queen had a way of endangering herself quite often. There was a need to keep sight of her that Xena found very strange and unnecessary. Gabrielle could handle herself.

In fact, Gabrielle quickly found herself coming to the rescue of a young boy who had been bitten by a stray snake. The man's scream alerted her, and the man's son's cries spurred her into action. Before she knew what was happening, her feet were thumping under her, and her balance had shifted to that of protector. In such moments, Gabrielle felt she hardly had any control at all - as practiced and trained as she was. One thought often circulated in such moments: she wasn't safe and she couldn't keep others safe either.

Gabrielle's past had been strained in a way that gave her no comfort. Only Ephiny really knew the trials she'd suffered, and the power it took for her to share honestly with anyone. It was hard for Gabrielle to reveal herself, and impossible for her to cry. In the same way, Gabrielle had great trouble recognizing her own efforts and successes, but she worked on instinct.

Xena was sharpening her sword by a large community fire when saw a blur out of the corner of her eye. She jerked her head up to watch that little blond bolt herself over, behind a spattering of buildings. Xena watched in thought at the bizarre nature of Gabrielle to insert herself into a stranger's sad situation.

When Xena had dragged herself across the territory to the source of screaming, she was surprised with the tug at her heart with the sight. A crying child squirmed as Gabrielle held the scrawny leg in her hands and sucked venom from a bite. Xena was breathless at seeing a person so selflessly throw themselves to another's rescue. As she often did with children, Xena saw her brother in the little boy, and suddenly feel a great sadness sweep over her. Maybe if a person like Gabrielle had been there in her youth, Lyceus might not have died. Xena tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword and clenched her teeth.

Over and over, Gabrielle sucked the poison into her mouth and then turned to spit it to the ground and start again. Blood had mixed with the poison, and Xena felt her heart clenched with the rest of her. Would she have done the same for a stranger's child?

Xena decided she wouldn't have.

It was only after commotion of the incident had settled that Xena spoke again - watching quietly as Gabrielle washed her face and hands in an outdoor stone basin.

"Hey ...?"

To the simple word of inquiry, Gabrielle stilled her movements, and braced herself on the edge of the basin. She glanced over to Xena, but said nothing.

"I'm wondering why you did that."

Gabrielle's bangs were wetted with the wash to her face, and droplets of water were still sliding over her cheeks when she wiped her eyes again. "... I don't know. Sometimes ... you see a wrong, and you need to fix it. People are in need, and you know you can help." Then she looked down into the murky water, and sighed. "I know so many who could have used help, and they had none ... I do what I can."

Xena noted that Gabrielle was a little pale. "You sure you had the right technique? ... You're a little white."

"I absorbed some of the poison in my mouth. It's inevitable. I'll be okay."

Xena stood so quickly that Gabrielle couldn't help her smile, still leaning over the basin. Feeling unwell.

"Worried about an Amazon, are we?" Gabrielle asked coolly, as observant as ever.

Xena clenched her teeth again and looked off. She didn't understand her own mind. "No. I just know if I don't bring you back well, I'll be blamed."

Gabrielle splashed another handful of water into her face, and used the piece of material she'd been given by the boy's family to dry herself. "No ... Ephiny will believe it. She hates when I do these things ... but she understands."

"And here I thought this was all a show," Xena teased lightly, feeling uneasy.

Mostly dry and completely exhausted, Gabrielle turned and sank back against the pillar holding the basin. She helped herself to the ground and looked tiredly out to Xena. "I might need to sleep for a little. If I ... don't wake up in a couple of hours ... get Ephiny. She'll know what to do."

Xena thought to the boy and the rest he'd needed, and she wondered if they were both this drained. That one snake could cause so much harm was thought-provoking. It made her think of the people in her life - whether they were snakes or saviours. She watched Gabrielle drift off as she realized most of her recent company had been categorized into snakes.

When Gabrielle awoke, she felt groggy - as if she were floating. When she came to, she realized she was hanging upside down, but since she was so drained, she couldn't simply squirm away. She groaned as she heard a conversation nearby.

"Is she waking now? And here I wished she were dead." It was Alti's voice. Gabrielle's heavy eyes struggled to keep open as she finally focused on the scratched material of the back of Xena's leathers. Xena had hoisted her up over a strong shoulder. "Why oh why would I want to solve your silly problems?"

"If she dies, you'll have the Amazons to answer to."

"Oh Xena ... wouldn't you like me to show you a little more of your life? You keep on coming back for more, don't you? I'm starting to believe you like the pain ..."

Gabrielle wondered what Alti was talking about, and suddenly realized Xena must have a past with her. No wonder she reacted so explosively. Had Alti hurt her? Gabrielle immediately worried for Ephiny. If Alti was as horrible as Xena seemed to think she was, anyone important to Gabrielle was in grave danger.

"Where can I find Ares?"

"I thought I'd never see the day!" Alti cackled hatefully, stepping closer. Gabrielle could hear it, but she couldn't see. With the blood flowing to her head, she was lightheaded all over again. "Ares?! What do you need him for now? And why would you come to ME? My dear Xena ... one more touch, and it might just do the trick. You can be free of this world for once and for all ..."

"I'll meet you in Tartarus, but not today. You heard me - I need Ares."

Hanging upside down had Gabrielle losing consciousness again, but she couldn't seem to speak for help. Helplessly, she started drifting out as she heard Alti's words: "I'll help you ... for a price ..."

The next time Gabrielle flooded into consciousness, she felt comfort underneath her and sounds to her right. As she shifted somewhat, she felt piled materials making up a cot beneath her, and a confusing sight to her right. Tilting her head to catch the happenings with heavy eyes, she recognized thick, tangly black hair as it fell over a naked shoulder. Was Xena naked? Gabrielle opened her eyes again as best she could while her body remained uncooperative, and saw Xena perched over Alti - Xena's strap of her outfit having fallen over her shoulder. Alti was naked, moaning, and grinning while Xena touched her.

Gabrielle stared as intently as her eyes would allow as she tried to understand what she was seeing - was this the price Alti had spoken of? If so, why had Xena given in? Maybe Xena didn't care.

"Ohhh ... looks like the Amazon enjoys the show," Alti teased sadistically, watching Gabrielle tilt her head in the other direction to deny having seen what she did.

"She's not well," Xena explained in an even and bitter tone. "Leave her alone or we're finished here."

"Oh, don't stop now. It was just getting good."

"I still don't know why you can't have others do this for you. I'm sure there are people who enjoy having their pride torn to shreds."

Gabrielle's body rotated with her semi-consciousness, and Xena noted the woman's weakened posture immediately.

"We're gonna have to make this quick. I have to make sure she's okay."

Alti flipped onto her hands and knees, motioning for Xena to get in close behind her - each of their hair draping down, each woman positioned unashamedly. For Xena, it was a task she needed to complete. For Alti, it was a guaranteed desire.

Back at the Amazon tribe, the Amazons all felt the absence of their queen that morning and afternoon. However, it weighed heaviest on the heart of one Amazon: Ephiny.

Unable to convince herself any longer that everything was fine, Ephiny prepared her weaponry and belt to go looking for Gabrielle. She knew Gabrielle had assured her she would be back no later than sunset, but even with the sun high in the sky, Ephiny could take the waiting no longer. She took off alone after instructing Geraldin - her new second-in-command - of her plans.

Being in such excellent shape, Ephiny had made her way almost entirely through the thick of the forest when she saw something moving ahead. Between the branches and leaves, she saw a very large figure, so she ducked in toward an old Macedonian oak tree. She had her back to the bark as she evened her breathing, and took another look at the shadowy figure as it paused.

"Don't tell me that's you, Ephiny."

Xena's voice resounded just as Ephiny stood to her feet and stepped out from the tree. Ephiny smiled with relief and annoyance for a moment before realizing Gabrielle was nowhere in sight. "Xena ...? Where's Gabrielle?" She hurried over branches and around trees to see that the queen was slung over Xena's shoulders.

"I've got her," Xena answered as she slid Gabrielle safely to the ground - taking only as much care as was necessary.

"Oh my gods!" Ephiny cried out, leaping as fast as she could when she saw the state of the woman she loved. "What happened to her?!"

Xena arched and stretched as Ephiny fell at Gabrielle's side with concern. "She's okay. I checked her pulse and her breathing's been steady for the last hour."

"But ... but what in Tartarus happened to her?! ... Why is she unconscious?!"

Xena dropped herself on the ground nearby, draping an arm across her face with an exhausted sigh. "Don't tell me you think I had anything to do with it."

"Did you?" Ephiny asked under her breath, tending to Gabrielle and ignoring the warrior's reaction.

Xena glanced over at the two women, and felt a tug toward emotionality that she tended to ignore. She closed her eyes to actively shut it out, and inhaled. The moment the relaxing technique reminded her of Gabrielle's morning routine, she sighed with the exasperation of her thoughts.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened to her or do I have to beat it out of you?!" Ephiny asked with rage as she got to her feet again and drew two sais from her boots.

Xena recognized the tearful anger in the warrior's eyes. She had related to it at one point of her life.

"I'm sorry ... it's been a rough time ..." she began. "She helped a child who was bitten by a snake. She had some of the poison in her mouth, but even though she spit it out, it still made her sick. She's been half-awake for a while now, but she'll be okay."

Ephiny forced herself to calm when she noted that Xena hadn't meant any harm. Still filled with anger, Ephiny placed the weaponry back into her boots and returned to Gabrielle's side. She held the limp hand in hers, and looked over to Xena.

"You carried her a long way ... I'm surprised you didn't just leave her."

"Like I said ... we have an understanding."

A glimmer of jealousy ran through Ephiny, but she pushed it off and kept her position kneeled beside her lover. The leather of her uniform was darker than that of the irritating woman she had come to know, and it pleated differently. She regarded Xena for another moment - thinking of her past - and then directed all of her attention down to Gabrielle.

"Does she risk her life often?" Xena asked with a small tease behind her words Ephiny didn't take lightly.

"Too often," was answered immediately - a somber expression on the guard that looked dangerously close to tears. Xena listened as Ephiny elaborated: "She has a way about her ... a kind of goodness that you want for yourself. You would never guess it, but ... she was wild in her younger days."

Suddenly interested, Xena turned her head to the curly-haired guard. "Wild?"

"When she was first training to be an Amazon ... she was training to use a staff, and she knocked Queen Raia right on her ass ..." Ephiny laughed momentarily, admiring the contours of Gabrielle's face. "... She was something. She'll always be something to me ..."

When Ephiny smiled, Xena smiled at the honesty of the story and the emotion unfolding. Xena thought for a moment about the most powerful women she had known. "She has an attitude, that's for sure."

"It's because she knows her worth," Ephiny whispered, her interest piqued when Gabrielle's head lulled to the right.

Xena laid onto her back again thoughtfully. "That's good ... not many women do."

As Gabrielle came to, Ephiny leaned down to reassure her, squeezing her hand all the while. The sight made Xena think to the men she'd been working with, and the fact that they never felt secure enough for such tender displays toward their lovers in front of others. It interested her to make that connection, watching Ephiny slowly urge Gabrielle to her feet at last.

"She needs support on her left," Ephiny instructed, watching Gabrielle's slow and silent recovery. It only took a handful of minutes before Gabrielle insisted they start to move while the sun was still lighting their way.

"Well gee - why don't I just cart her all the way back?" Xena said loud enough for both women to hear.

Gabrielle was still too effected by the toxins to understand what was going on, but Ephiny was quick to answer.

"No, she needs to walk with us to keep herself conscious."

Xena smirked, grumbling that she hadn't meant the offer in sincerity. Still, she helped all the same.

Gabrielle remembered small glimpses of her walk and the conversation between her lover and her ex-slave. She recalled being helped to her room, but everything came to her in moments. When Gabrielle inhaled into full consciousness at last, she was in her bed and the room was relatively dark.

The ceiling of the sturdy shelter was a great comfort the moment she recognized her room. Her eyes slowly blinked and her fingers tested their reflexes while the room came into focus. It was then that she was surprised to find the view she did: Ephiny and Xena sitting across one another in front of a fire at the other end of the room. Though Gabrielle's room was not large, there was space for relaxing across from the bed, and two small wood-carved seats - then occupied by two of the greatest fighters Gabrielle had ever known speaking with a graceful fluidity. Their voices pierced the air in decisive and familiar consistency.

"Yeah, well it's not like I did anything to deserve it."

Ephiny then laughed in her own small way, glancing into the fire while her forearms rested confidently on her knees. "I can't believe you tugged her around that way. I'm surprised she warned you at all."

Xena laughed aloud, her loosened reactions mimicked by her position draped over the chair with one leg hooked over the arm rest: "She couldn't hurt me, but the idea was ... entertaining."

Gabrielle watched the two having their conversation with a quiet perception that came as naturally as her good will for others. She had worked her entire life to keep her sensitivities and uncertainties to herself, and yet the two women she watched seemed to incorporate them so effortlessly. Having the leadership of an Amazon tribe on her shoulders, Gabrielle had a responsibility to be the leader she had built herself up to be, but there in that bed, she wondered why she had trained so desperately to be the cold and stoic woman she had been for years.

Xena's voice crackled aside the glowing fire, and Gabrielle tiredly turned her head to the window. From the black of the sky, she knew it was late in the night, and that deduction made her think of her skill as a fighter, a healer, and a leader. Her extensive knowledge on her set of skills was impressive, but it had her wondering about her lack of interpersonal skills. She had built such defenses that she hadn't allowed for much true intimacy - romantic or otherwise. Her conclusion was awfully troubling.

The strange relationship Ephiny and Xena had begun to form saddened Gabrielle, because she felt herself incapable of such a thing. Why couldn't she let anyone in? In that moment, a part of her yearned to give up her path as Queen Gabrielle, and it was a moment that struck her with an icy, vivid rush. It was so powerful a moment, in fact, that she pushed it to the back of her mind. It gave her sorrow to think of such things - not having the life she had or the people in it. She imagined having none of the confidence or being capable of maintaining her stamina in a fight, and she felt her eyes threatening to fill with tears.

When the guilt pained her, Gabrielle finally spoke: "I'm sorry ..."

Ephiny rushed over and sat with Gabrielle, kissing her hand. "Don't be sorry. I understand. It's okay. You'll be okay."

While the words hadn't been meant for Gabrielle's train of thought, she accepted them just the same. "Thank you ... you always care for me."

Ephiny kissed Gabrielle's lips gently, smiling at her. "I always will."

Gabrielle smiled uncontrollably at the sweetness of her lover, even before a feared warrior such as Xena. "Ephiny ... I'm part poisoned ... you shouldn't be kissing my lips."

"I'm afraid you'll need a better reason than that," Ephiny teased, easily leaning in to give Gabrielle another gentle kiss. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Xena. "Xena needs a lesson in kindness anyway."

"Just don't use me as your lesson ..." Gabrielle grinned, despite her condition. She pulled herself to a semi-seated position with a spark of naughtiness in her playful insinuations. "I'm afraid I'm not up to that sort of ... vigorous activity at the moment."

"I see you two are teasing me," Xena said, doing her best to keep a smile from her face with her arms crossed over her chest. "But if you're offering a show ..."

An extra candle and an old pillow were both thrown at the raven-haired warrior before Xena took her laughing exit from the room. She would be back the next day to wait where she had described to Alti for Ares to arrive, but Gabrielle needed her rest for the night and Xena needed to rest her mind alone.

Xena found sleep that night on her back in the solitary nature of the woods, looking up to the glowing stars.

Gabrielle slept that night with Ephiny tucked in at her side - eyes drifting languidly out her window to the calm, empty night sky.


	6. Chapter 6

Xena was in the Eatery the next morning, intimidating many of the young women with her presence, when Gabrielle found her. The young queen had been drifting around in search of the tall, dark warrior.

There at a benched table sat Xena - seated alone with her food. Other women around her glanced over or gestured to friends, but Xena didn't notice. She only ever seemed to notice her infamous reputation when it suited her. Her hair seemed somehow softer in that moment of her simplicity. Gabrielle shook her head and rolled her eyes as she took in a deep breath and marched forward.

"I found him - favor completed," Xena said dismissively as she ate, accidentally offending the woman who stood directly in front of her. To any other person, Gabrielle would have been intimidating herself, but the two women related to one another on such a level that they felt themselves to be equals - therefore unintimidating.

"Good," Gabrielle smiled, leaning onto the table with her exhaustive emotional turmoil. Xena didn't ask, and Gabrielle didn't divulge, so they remained in silence while Xena ate, uninterested in the queen's reason for lingering.

"Hope it's okay I'm eating all this food," Xena teased as she finished her bread and glanced up at the blond with an incredible physique. Xena smacked her hands together to rid herself of crumbs, and then rested her hands on her thighs.

Gabrielle nodded, "It's fine ... hey ... I was wondering what happened the other day. I wasn't really conscious that whole time ..." Gabrielle didn't care about the heads that turned. It wasn't like her to concern herself with what others thought of her - not the Gabrielle she exposed to the world. She had never allowed herself to feel those things.

Xena saw that, and it wiped the smile from her lips. She looked up to Gabrielle: "I kept you from harm. You have my word."

"And you?" Gabrielle asked quieter, for Xena's sake. She watched very carefully as Xena's face contorted into an expression of embarrassment and a forced insensitivity that matched very closely to the one Gabrielle held for herself.

Xena rubbed her hand over her face aggressively and then looked up to Gabrielle - reminding the queen of the open and honest faces of the children among the tribe. "I do just fine, thanks. And anything you saw ... I'm sorry. There's nothing I could have done about that."

Gabrielle maintained her stare directly into Xena's eyes, and Xena wasn't sure if she read confusion there or sympathy. It was an odd expression.

"Don't tell me you came all the way over here to tell me you care about me," Xena teased with a smile back on her lips. "Doesn't seem very queenly of you ..."

"Well ... I wanted to thank you for your help."

"Go ahead," Xena grinned, untangling her legs from the bench to stand to her usual height.

Gabrielle couldn't help but smile back at the humorous attitude she had been subject to while she had been in contact with the infamous Xena. The smile had grown on her and she had become accustomed to enjoying its strange interruptions. "Thank you."

"And thank YOU," Xena returned just as easily, nodding her head. "I saw Ares this morning. Everything's set and I'll head out if ... well, if you don't plan on keeping me as your personal slave ... You and Ephiny, I'm sure ..."

Gabrielle cocked her head to the side at the sexual implications. Gabrielle wondered where Xena had picked up her particular brand of humor. "We'll miss that attitude, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Xena answered in part with lightness of the situation and in part with a realized sadness of leaving the area. "Hey ... tell Eph- ... Well. Tell the guards they do a great job."

Gabrielle chuckled and dropped her head. "Yeah. I'll tell her."

"Don't go thinking I like Amazons because of a few good people," Xena tossed over her shoulder as she went to leave. It was so plain a command Gabrielle almost missed the fact that Xena was speaking of a few, and not only one.

Gabrielle watched after her with a heavy, silent sigh: "I wouldn't dare."

It felt odd, watching Xena walk off, but it left her with a smile she didn't bother trying to understand. Xena's absence gave Gabrielle more time to think about her relationship with Ephiny, as well as her relationship with herself.

The same day Xena left, Gabrielle went to Ephiny and spoke with her in depth about the tribe. Ephiny easily saw through the topic, but she allowed Gabrielle to veil her concerns with those of the community. It was difficult to let Gabrielle hide, but Ephiny knew it was what the young queen needed.

"Hey ... Ephiny," Cerhu interrupted accidentally, catching sight of the two women together but not thinking much of it. "We need you out here."

"I'll be out in a moment," Ephiny instructed, turning back to Gabrielle with a tired sort of professionalism that Gabrielle saw through, as well.

"I want people to know." It was an easy remark for Gabrielle to make, but once she did, Ephiny's shock was apparent. The curled and bouncy hair of the guard tilted with Ephiny's chin - statuesque in its form.

"... My Queen?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised," Gabrielle whispered tenderly, observing Ephiny's reactions carefully. "I want you off limits just as I'd like to declare my involvement with you."

Ephiny blushed so deeply she brought her hand up to feel the warmth of her cheeks. She grinned into her hand at the act, locking her eyes down onto the table, but forced herself to clear her throat: "Are ... you quite certain now is a good time?"

Gabrielle was entertained with Ephiny's reactions, but she didn't tease her. She leaned back in her chair. "Well, as good a time as any."

Once Ephiny had finally steeled herself against any romantically giddy feelings, she picked her eyes up again. "As much as I'd like others to know - Cerhu included ..."

Gabrielle laughed as her guard continued.

"... Your reign is very important here, and I worry that might jeopardize your leadership among these women."

Gabrielle sighed and crossed her arms in a posture of repose, her eyes drifting around. "I see what you mean ... but are you against the idea?"

"Not against it, My Queen," Ephiny stated immediately, having stayed up nights past just wondering and praying for such a scene. "No ... simply worried. That's all."

"Not about Cerhu ...?" Gabrielle whispered as she rose to her feet and leaned over the table - a tease lacing her voice that time around. "I certainly wouldn't take her up on her offer with a woman like you so eager to please me ..."

Gabrielle was already making her way outside when Ephiny's cheeks flushed another, deeper shade of red.

With both hands on her hips, Gabrielle felt the air had a freshness to it she'd never felt before. Loosening herself around Ephiny was something she had never experienced before, and she thought again to the conversation she had overheard between Ephiny and Xena - idolizing that sort of playful and yet vulnerable relationship.

Gabrielle focused on the down-trodden path ahead of her, and felt a peculiar kind of sadness for something she couldn't fully understand. Ephiny was a patient woman, but Gabrielle was quite impatient herself. They were different in many ways - Ephiny being outwardly emotional while Gabrielle tended to keep her feelings inside. She wondered how she would begin to build a relationship with Ephiny without hurting the guard's open feelings. She realized she had no way of tackling the issue she felt lodged deep within herself. Then Gabrielle tilted her head up, and wondered for a moment if even Divine Intervention could assist her in her self-discovery.

The clouds were painting the sky with a milky white that seemed at once transparent and opaque. They swept across the blue expanse quicker than Gabrielle had remembered, and as she shielded her eyes from the sun, she thought back to the last time she had stopped to admire the day's sky.

"My Queen?" Cerhu asked in the deep and unwavering voice she always used.

Gabrielle took another moment to lose herself in her thoughts before craning her neck back into its usual position, blinking her eyes. "Yes, Cerhu. I'm coming."

"Something up there?" Cerhu asked, bolting her eyes up to the sky and then just as quickly fixing them on the young queen. Something about Gabrielle's soft, messy blond hair always had her fantasizing about the way it would feel in her rough, excited grasp.

"No," Gabrielle answered, walking alongside a great fighter with her usual graceful posture. "Just thinking back to when I was younger."

"And?" Cerhu asked with a little smile, following gladly behind her queen.

"I was a simpler woman then," Gabrielle vocalized, thinking over that phrase all afternoon through business and while wondering about the path of her life.

It wasn't until Gabrielle saw Ephiny sparring after dinner that she thought to her powerful, feminine guard and what busy day SHE must have had. Watching Ephiny fight was a potent aphrodisiac.

Ephiny fought as well with a staff as Gabrielle imagined the first Amazons had fought - strong and true to their natural instrument. The history poured from a woman much younger than the history itself. The power that sat patiently behind Ephiny's eyes turned to crystal when she fought, and all that watched her were drawn to the passion she had within.

Gabrielle had always done her best thinking when watching women practice their skill. The movements and purpose she read off women like Ephiny inspired her beyond her wildest dreams.

If anyone had ever said she would be queen of the Amazons, Gabrielle would have scoffed and assigned them a diagnosis of lunacy. Yet there she stood - trained, ready, and certified of the royalty. Her cheeks caught the cool wind, and it chilled her. There were pieces of her past she wanted to forget, and on that note, she wondered how her parents were doing. Certainly her father would be reaching land soon. Was it too early to see if he had made it home? Was Gabrielle crazy indeed for caring about a couple who had all but sold her away? She began to wonder, but wouldn't dare reveal her uncertainty to those around her.

She watched each night for three nights before she had made up her mind about coming out about her relationship with Ephiny to the other Amazons among them.

On the fourth day, she hiked her way over to the sparring arena with that familiar fence, and watched the women watching the match. There was laughter with side conversations, intense fascination among others, and jealousy in others' eyes.

Gabrielle shook her head of the chaos, smiled, and stepped forward, into the fenced area to gain many stares herself.

Leicka - a young Amazon woman, inexperienced in the ways of a fight - had been sparring with the much more experienced Ephiny. Leicka was oblivious to the queen, swinging again at Ephiny before the warrior grabbed her arm and spun her, locking both arms to disable her. Both women were breathing heavily when Gabrielle took another step forward. It was difficult not to become aroused at the ease with which Ephiny could incapacitate another fighter, but Gabrielle kept focused. She stared ahead, into Ephiny's eyes.

"Mind if I step in, Leicka?" She wasn't looking to Leicka, but the younger woman scrambled to the floor and panted with the release - oblivious yet again.

"Yeah ... yes ... Queen Gabrielle ..."

A number of more experienced women waiting around caught something very intimate in the exchange between Gabrielle and Ephiny, but assumptions could be dangerous. They watched very carefully and quietly as Gabrielle stepped over to Ephiny.

For a moment, it almost seemed as if Ephiny were superior to Gabrielle, but she quickly knelt onto one knee at the attention - terrified to give them away with the love in her eyes.

The act garnered even more attention, despite the intention, and Gabrielle pressed her lips together with the irony, her eyes sliding over Ephiny's shoulders, and down her arms.

"Ephiny ... I would like a turn. If you will. Spar me."

Ephiny's breath caught so deeply in her throat she had to fight to keep from coughing the feeling away. "I can't, My Queen."

"I need the practice," Gabrielle smiled, crouching down to reach for Ephiny's chin. She spoke quietly and genuinely to her: "I hear you're the best."

"No better than you," Ephiny insisted, quickly standing to her full height with her posture so stiff her inch of added height made her visibly taller than the young queen.

Gabrielle reached to the right for the staff Leicka had been using, and she stood to her feet with a slow sort of grace that countered Ephiny's forced stance.

The crowd around them went from wondering to suspecting something between the two women. They whispered among themselves while Gabrielle spoke for all to hear: "I've wanted to spar you for a long while ... please do me the honor?"

Ephiny couldn't refuse, but she worried for what might come of their next actions. Every bit the leader she was, Ephiny stepped over to Gabrielle and brought their staffs together to tap the start.

"My Queen ..." she whispered for only Gabrielle to hear. "This could be the end to your queenship ... all these people knowing … please ... don't throw it away because of me."

Gabrielle read the desperation behind Ephiny's protective nature, and saw that Ephiny wanted it, too. When the tribe knew, there would be no more sneaking around. For the last few nights, they had stolen moments together, but never more than that. It hadn't been more than a quiet night together or a secret touch. "I want to do this ..." Gabrielle mouthed, almost too quietly for Ephiny's trained hearing. "Please don't ask me not to."

Knowing Gabrielle's stubborn nature, Ephiny couldn't help but smile. She tapped each staff together, and pivoted on her heel to face Gabrielle again - five feet of space between them.

"I won't strike you," Ephiny said quietly but certainly. "Not like Xena ... I could never hurt you, My Queen ..."

A handful of women felt the connection Gabrielle and Ephiny shared, but watched with just as much rapt fascination as the scene unfolded. The small fighting arena was gathering a large crowd by the time Gabrielle lunged for the first move, pressing on obviously enough to allow for Ephiny to block her strike. It was a weak move for a woman as talented as Gabrielle, but the grin on her face showed that she wasn't sparring to practice skill. She was there for another reason entirely.

Ephiny was nervous and excited all at once. She was perspirating at twice her usual rate, watching Gabrielle carefully. The two had never sparred before, and with good reason. Ephiny had never wanted any harm to come to Gabrielle, and Gabrielle had inexplicably never wanted to put herself too close to Ephiny. The attraction she finally realized helped her to understand why she had never allowed herself to fight Ephiny, and why Ephiny had never asked.

The moment between them in the arena was tense with a very sexual chemistry.

By the time Gabrielle thwacked Ephiny behind her knees to flatten the guard onto her back, the crowd was whistling and cheering - understanding the circumstances.

Without hesitation, Gabrielle smiled as she dropped and crawled onto Ephiny, pinning her arms with no resistance from the trained Amazon beneath her.

Gabrielle panted down to the emotional eyes she knew so well, smirking at last. "Let me show them ...?"

The hollers had Ephiny chuckling despite herself - unable to hold back her desire to be with Gabrielle in every sense. In place of an answer, Ephiny pulled her head off the ground, and caught Gabrielle's lips in a kiss.

The laughing screams and whistling only intensified as Gabrielle's hands moved from flexing arms to a very tender face. The kiss was fluid and affectionate, and very telling of the feelings the women shared for each other.

That sight would be the talk of the tribe for weeks to come - each being teased at some point each day, but neither minding much.

Holding Ephiny's hand or kissing her when she left for a training day or two was worth all the embarrassment.

Ephiny's dreams became reality, but she worried anew for Gabrielle every time she left her. Although Gabrielle's leadership had prospered after their official status, she worried for the woman she loved.

One very dark evening when the sky was washed with purple and pink, Gabrielle pulled Ephiny from the bed to take her on a walk down along a nearby river. Once they stopped, Ephiny turned to Gabrielle with concern in her eyes.

"I have ... been wanting to ask you about a few things ... but I've been scared."

"Are you alright? No one's hurt you?"

"No," Gabrielle breathed, looking out to the water with a sigh.

"What is it? You can ask me anything."

Gabrielle smiled, even in her darkened state, and turned to Ephiny: "I knew you'd say that."

It took hours for Gabrielle to get out what she really meant as they sat for long periods in silence.

At last, Gabrielle wrung her hands again and glared into Ephiny's eyes.

"I don't know how to open up, okay? ... I've ... never been very close to anyone before, except for my terrible parents who I still love, regardless of their disinterest in me ..."

"... What about your family? Have you checked in on your father?"

Gabrielle dropped her head into her hands for a moment: "Yeah, he's fine."

"And your mother?" Ephiny asked softly, resting her hand on Gabrielle's arm.

Gabrielle suddenly bolted to her feet, and wiped her face with the feelings surging through her. "I don't want to talk about anything! I don't know what's wrong with me, Eph ..."

Before Gabrielle started to cry, Ephiny already had her enveloped in strong arms. She held Gabrielle and soothed the aching woman who needed her comfort. She was glad to help Gabrielle in any way she could.

"I don't know what to do ... I'll never let myself out ... I don't know how to say what I mean ..." Gabrielle sobbed intermittently, holding it back as best she could.

"There will be time for that," Ephiny whispered, squeezing a little tighter when Gabrielle felt heavier with exhaustion. "Hey ... hey, listen to me."

With a hand's width between them, Ephiny ran her fingers over Gabrielle's cheeks, and smiled at her in a way so sincere that Gabrielle couldn't help but pay close attention.

"Gabrielle ... I want you to know that you need to be the woman inside ... not the mask."

Gabrielle's nostrils flared with the advice she had never been given - the advice that could possible open her to a possible acceptance of self. Ephiny's belief in her made her feel worthy and strong and possible.

"Promise me you'll let yourself out every now and then ...?" Ephiny asked with a silly smile reserved only for their times together.

Gabrielle smiled in return, even with her eyes red and swollen from tears. "Yeah ... okay. But only now and then ..."

"Whatever it takes to feel comfortable," Ephiny assured, pulling the young queen a little closer once more, holding her just to do it. She felt so happy around Gabrielle she often couldn't help but smile.

It was a cool evening as they made their way back up to the rooms, made warmer by the hand-in-hand contact up the path. Gabrielle had never enjoyed in such adolescent shows of affection in all her life, but she felt herself enjoying the acts as they frequented more and more often.

"Promise you'll give all this some more thought?" Ephiny asked quietly as they made their way toward the guard's rooms - down the hall toward Gabrielle's.

Halting in her spot, Gabrielle turned to Ephiny. "Yeah. I do ... but hey, I'm feeling like ... maybe I need a night to myself." As much as she had wanted to plead for Ephiny to stay with her, Gabrielle was suddenly overcome with a prickling feeling that was horribly unsettling. She thought better of asking Ephiny to stay when she felt she herself might be in danger. It was a natural feeling she had heard tales of all her life, but she dismissed the tingle connecting over her spine. Instead of confronting her feelings, she dismissed the superstitious thoughts with a tender smile, putting a hand to Ephiny's chest - always wanting to keep her safe. "Hey ... keep warm for me tonight."

"Yes, My Queen," Ephiny whispered, pulling Gabrielle closer for a full, pleasing kiss.

After watching Ephiny let herself into her own room, Gabrielle backed into hers, and sat on the bed with her hairs raised over the back of her neck and up her arms. She quickly rubbed her skin until the feeling was forced into submission, and curled up on her bed, wondering if she was being as thoughtful as she had meant to be. She had done what she could to protect the woman she was bonding with so heartily.

Xena was saddling up her horse with the sun high in the sky when she heard something that caught her attention. She looked off in the direction of the sound to see a horse and a rider appear from the top of a hill. Xena squinted, holding the horse's reins in one hand and keeping the other loose at her side until the hurried guest appeared before her.

The rider was an Amazon woman who promptly threw herself off the horse and nearly ran into the ex-slave of Queen Gabrielle.

Xena recognized the messenger woman as one who had teased her when she was stuck in that awful cage, and the smirk found her lips as the situation had so justly reversed. Just as Xena opened her mouth to point out how things had turned in her favour, the messenger panted out her news.

"Queen Gabrielle! ... She's ... she's in trouble! ..."

Xena straightened, surprised by the worry she felt for a woman she had hardly known at all. "Stand up. Breathe in through your nose and speak, Gods-be-damned."

The Amazon woman did as she was told, letting information out in long bursts of air: "She's been taken by the centaurs who've been at war with us lately over a large expanse of land ... in between our territories. They have her, and ... she's in danger. I've been sent hoping you would help us ..."

"I'm not known for my help to the Amazons," Xena said aloud, despite the sinking heart of the woman who had come to seek her help. "But ... I'll make an exception here. I had made a pact with Queen Gabrielle not long ago. I'll do what I can."

"Go ... we must go ..." the woman insisted, barely able to hoist herself back up onto her horse when Xena grabbed hold of the woman's top, and turned her.

"Wait ... how in Tartarus did you find me so quickly?"

"It's ... it's been days of travel under instructions of where you might be going ... I ... I wasn't sure ... I searched and searched as quickly as I could-"

"Under whose instruction?" Xena asked with great curiosity.

With unsteady breathing and worry in her eyes, the woman confessed the source of her message: "Her guard ... Ephiny."


	7. Chapter 7

Xena's rushed departure left for little explanation from the Amazon woman who had come asking for help. As much as Xena had wanted to interrogate the breathless messenger, there were more important tasks at hand. She raced tirelessly to the aid of Queen Gabrielle, foregoing sleep and food in order to lend her help as quickly as possible.

Riding in with the reins steady in her hands to see the familiar buildings, Xena had to wonder how a warrior like Gabrielle had managed to get herself captured. She was hardly the damsel type.

Xena had half expected for the entire tribe to be burnt to the ground if Gabrielle had been somehow taken from it, but the carvings and buildings stood as they always had. Xena stilled her horse before arriving, and patted the coarse mane of hair with some unease. She focused ahead, adjusting herself in the makeshift saddle while clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth in order to start the horse moving again. She bounced gently in her seat as she kept her eyes open to any movement.

There were two women walking down a far path as Xena finally dismounted her horse to find the area isolated. She frowned, paused, and looked around again. Although the buildings were created in order to allow for the growth of the community, Xena knew the place wasn't so large. Had many Amazons been killed? With a heavy heart, Xena wondered so for Gabrielle. The air seemed lighted with an air of grief.

Undeterred, Xena walked her horse along with her to a post - tying it and patting its mane again as a sort of reassurance for the creature as much as it was for her.

"Don't you go anywhere."

The horse busied itself with smelling the post and shifting its weight.

"Where are they?" Xena muttered to herself, listening very carefully to hear a quieted lull in the direction of the large ceremonial fire, but that area was too far to observe. Xena looked off in that very direction when something distracted her. It was voices and sobbing coming from the Eatery that had Xena hurrying to the commotion.

No one was familiar, but Xena bolted over to the twosome with concern: "I heard news your queen was in trouble ...? Where is she?"

The question started one of the women off into another fit of sobs, while the other held her and blinked. "Who are you?"

Xena grumbled. "Ephiny sent for me. I'm trying to help."

That time, the sobbing woman wept loudly on her partner's shoulder so loudly that Xena straightened herself to await a quieter moment. Her eyes scanned the room to notice only a few other women who might be able to answer her questions. Time was not to be wasted.

"You're Xena?" the partner asked, stroking her lover's back.

"Yes. What happened?"

The woman took in a strong breath with tears in her eyes, and Xena wondered for a moment if she should simply try another source for information.

"It was a mess ... our pain is still new - forgive our emotion."

Somehow more understanding with the explanation of the obvious, Xena nodded and placed her hands on her hips: "I came as quickly as I could. Is Queen Gabrielle ... okay?"

With crying as background noise to the two of them, the woman shrugged - her lip trembling. "I don't know ... I pray she will find a way to cope with her loss."

Xena's mind raced so quickly she blurted out her realization before the woman had time to explain it: "Ephiny ...?"

"Yes ... Marga can explain ... I can't leave my betrothed right now."

"Who's Marga?" Xena asked with an overwhelmed expression that spoke of her deep turmoil and inner sadness.

"Gabrielle passed her Right of Caste on to Marga ... she's the most promising of the young women ... the one to step up when Gabrielle ... well. When she couldn't take the pain ..."

Xena's pulse quickened at the thought, and her emotion doubled. "Not Gabrielle too ...?"

"No ... no, but she's not well."

Xena took a moment to digest the information, and thanked the woman for her help. She asked where she could find the new queen, and took one more look at the mourning couple.

"I was ... well, Ephiny was a good woman."

The couple looked up to Xena's kind words, and nodded.

"Artemis be with her," Xena hummed with honor, surprising both women as she took her exit - that an independent warrior would be accustomed to such Amazon blessings. They nodded sorrowfully in return.

After having asked around, Xena found Marga at the fire the crowd was watching in upsetting silence. There were many surrounding the new young queen, but only a few of the women around noticed Xena. When Marga looked up to recognize the help sent, she removed herself from the bench and joined Xena on the other side of the large fire.

"Ephiny ... what happened?" Xena started with obvious sadness behind her determined stoic eyes. "I heard Queen Gabrielle had been captured ...?"

"Yes. She had," Marga answered, void of the emotion she reserved for those closest to her, however tempting the tears became. "She was shot with a mysterious arrow I find suspect around this area. The centaurs took her, but I have trouble believing they made their way through this area without one Amazon seeing or hearing them. I'm looking into it, but we all need our time to grieve."

Xena took a calming breath in and out, finding herself surprisingly crushed with the news of Ephiny's death. There was a building temptation to cry, but she pushed it down for the time being. It wasn't the moment for tears.

"So she was shot and ... what happened? We've lost Ephiny ..."

"Yes. Well we're still figuring out some of this, but ... as far as I can tell, Gabrielle was shot and somehow taken from here. When Ephiny went to check on her the next morning and saw she was missing, she grabbed one of our messengers and sent her to get you. She was so adamant she find you ..." At that moment, Marga closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to them in order to keep the tears from pouring. She blinked a few times, and continued: "She took care of that, told others to gather and recruited us to get our queen. It was a battle unlike any we'd fought in recent time before - vicious and yet suspicious."

"You wonder if some of these women had something to do with this?"

"Pheron had turned on Gabrielle. It's not past the realm of possibility."

Xena nodded: "That's brave of you to explore it."

Marga was teary, but continuous in her speech: "I do what I have to do, in honor of Ephiny and Queen Gabrielle."

"But Gabrielle's still alive ...?"

"Some are uncertain how much longer she'll be with us."

Xena frowned again and touched her brow. "What is her condition?"

"She's devastated. She's been out in the sparring field since Ephiny passed ... We've tried to console her. We've even tried to fight her to bring her in for care, but ... honestly, no one can keep up with her. I worry for her - she hasn't eaten or slept as far as we can tell in these last four days. She's fighting herself on that field ..."

Xena glanced out in the direction of Marga's eyes and then turned back to her.

"How did Ephiny die?"

Marga's lip trembled, and a number of tears slipped down her face. "She was ...protecting Gabrielle ... In the fight, after Gabrielle had fought her way out from the cell they'd kept her in, Ephiny took a sword intended for ... for our queen ..."

Xena patted the new queen's shoulder with sympathy, and bowed her head. "Artemis be with her."

Marga turned her face away, nodding with her hand drawn up to her trembling lips. "Yes ... Artemis bless her ..."

After hearing the account of Ephiny's death, Xena stood around the glow of the fire for a few very long moments. She felt the heat and allowed herself to mourn among the countless others over the symbolic strength and love Ephiny showed to others. She made certain not to show that she felt she had built a friendship with the Amazon - she would be able to grieve privately.

Xena had many questions, but they would have to wait, too. With another silent blessing for Ephiny, Xena made her way over to the sparring field Marga had described. If one's partner passed, the other suffered their demise. Xena had seen many men and women driven mad with the death of their loved one. As deeply as Xena wanted to run from the dramatic anger, she pushed herself with each step, closer to Gabrielle. At last, she rounded a corner, and saw out to the distance where a woman was crouched on the grass. Xena moved each foot forward in what she felt must have been her regular pattern, although the moment felt anything but regular. Her heart quickened with sadness for Gabrielle, but she didn't let it show in her face. From what she had seen of Gabrielle, a bolder approach was necessary. Others had tried to console Gabrielle. Xena would shake her loose from her anger.

"Tired?" Xena asked without the smile she often gave to such an introduction. She wanted Gabrielle to know she was concerned.

Gabrielle breathed so deeply and quietly it couldn't be heard, but with an exaggerated arch of her bent form, listening. Xena could see breath drawn and pushed out - refusing the comfort.

"I heard you've been giving these girls a run for their money," Xena sighed, stomping one foot into the dirt and pressing her fists to her hips. "Thought you'd like to try running me outta here, too."

At last, Gabrielle broke her silence - the dark profile tilting to catch a screen of sunlight in her eye. "I haven't run anybody anywhere."

The ex-queen's eyes were defeated, and Xena was surprised that Gabrielle had cared for Ephiny to deeply. What had Ephiny meant to Gabrielle? Xena's right hand slipped to the hilt of her sword as her thumb grazed the top of the weapon as a sort of comforting habit she had picked up long ago.

"But you want to fight, isn't that right?"

Gabrielle expelled all of her breath, and took a long, hissing breath in: "Yes."

There was no point in reasoning with Gabrielle in the state she was in - Xena knew that. She went about the situation with a much more simplistic approach: harassment.

"So, what happened to the last person to give you a try?" Xena smiled at last - forcing the expression as her heart was still twisted in turmoil.

With one glance, Gabrielle saw the act, and stood to her feet. "Is this a game to you?"

Xena drew her sword and straightened her posture. "I'm here to help what's left of Queen Gabrielle. Now will you fight for her, too, or make me do all the damned work?"

Gabrielle grabbed the sais from her boots that had belonged to Ephiny, and held them in her strangling grasp with arms locked and ready. It was the first time she had taken them from her boots, and she cursed her instinctive choice.

"Very well," Xena muttered, twirling her sword twice around, and then locking her arm just the same - showing she would follow through with the fight.

Gabrielle shifted her feet so subtly Xena barely noticed, and drew her arms in a little closer to her abdomen, waiting for Xena to make the first move. With everyone else, she had lunged or screamed or cursed them away, but something about Xena's presence reminded her to control her fury.

Just as Gabrielle felt Xena was reading her eyes, she changed her stance and asked with anger: "Do you plan on fighting dirty again?"

Xena felt the guilt of the past, but she didn't loosen herself in the slightest. She pushed away the weak thoughts, and took a trained step closer. "Let me guess - it's the only way I could win? Well, let me tell you - I've fought a lot of crazy people."

"I'm not! ... Crazy!" Gabrielle yelled, lunging at last toward Xena's shoulder which was blocked with the thick sword that pushed off the weapon to send them both back into a readied stance.

Gabrielle blinked a few times while reminding herself the weakness of emotion in a fight. She wondered how she had sent anyone off in the mood she was in - sensing its enormity for the first time with Xena facing her down.

"Why do you care? Why are you here?"

Xena lunged in then, blocked by both sais, crossed and tangled with her opponent's weapon. Yet, the term opponent didn't fit quite right. Xena breathed in sharply, and jolted her sword back with force. She looked at the angry mess Gabrielle was willing herself not to become, and felt something reach her from within. There was something very catching about the guarded way Gabrielle held herself up - all the while needing support. For the first time in her adult life, Xena yearned to take a gentler approach.

"Come back with me, and let them feed you, Gabrielle. You'll die out here with your stubbornness." The words left Xena's lips with an unrecognizable lightness. "People care about you."

"Ephiny cared and look where that got her," Gabrielle started with an emotion so raw her voice cracked. The reaction had Gabrielle lunging again, surprising Xena with her ferociousness despite hunger and restlessness.

Gabrielle was striking so wildly that she nearly knocked into Xena's jaw, but Xena quickly tucked herself to the ground. With great experience with the manoeuver, Xena pivoted and grabbed Gabrielle from behind using a chokehold she had learned years ago.

The moment the strong arm had looped itself under her chin, Gabrielle tried desperately to touch her toes to the ground. She knew Xena could have her unconscious before long in such a hold. As desperate as Gabrielle was so fight the hold, a part of her yearned to be forced out of her own mind. She wanted it all to fade away, but her stubbornness to claim her victory in a fight won out.

Xena had never recalled fighting anyone who seemed so uncertain of their own motives. She could feel the lapses in Gabrielle's efforts. Was she uncertain if she really wanted to win at all? Xena held a little tighter, forcing Gabrielle off her feet and gasping for air. The fight she sensed then was what she had been looking for, and she let up when she felt Gabrielle's strength surge back to her.

An elbow to the stomach had Xena loosening her grip - pushing Gabrielle from herself when she felt the fight returning to her anew.

Gabrielle twisted around as she balanced on her feet again, panting. The anger and devastation in her eyes mixed in swirling green seas of uncertainty. It was impossible to read her, so Xena grabbed the sword she'd dropped in the struggle and wordlessly held it up toward the blond so Gabrielle could see the curve of the fuller and central ridge of the blade.

It was a silent moment in which Gabrielle dropped to her knees, and sat back on her heels - tears building behind her eyes.

Xena was struck with the physical conversation she was having with Gabrielle. She was pained by Gabrielle's apparent self-destructive guilt. "Is that what all this was about? You blame yourself?"

"Do it," Gabrielle whispered, staring into Xena's piercing blue eyes. The strangely messy black hair hung in the still air as the bright eyes stared back at her with astonishment. "Go ahead ... do it."

The tears Xena saw were Gabrielle's first tears since Ephiny's death. It was apparent in the suddenly broken expression she saw staring back at her.

Xena pressed the edge of her sword in toward Gabrielle's neck just enough to put pressure on the skin. When Gabrielle sat unfazed at the gesture - tears neatly pouring down over her cheeks - Xena felt herself affected by the scene. She was not one to let her emotions out around those she didn't know, but Gabrielle's sincere loss of self gripped at her hardened heart.

"Get up," Xena said evenly, bringing her free hand to rub under her eyes in order to smear away the unfortunate tears that insisted on falling. She brought her sword back to keep from biting into Gabrielle's skin, and balanced her posture.

Gabrielle sat still in her place, her breath shaky from the newfound emotion, her eyes dropping to the ground before her as the weapon was withdrawn. She slouched with the tears that poured the moment she broke her cold facade. She slouched and cried in earnest the moment she realized just how much she had needed to let go. The fact that she was sitting - surrendered - before one of the world's greatest fighters did nothing to inhibit her reactions. She sobbed with her head bowed until she couldn't cry anymore, finally realizing a hand rubbed against her arm in comfort.

Xena said nothing, but crouched there beside her to watch Gabrielle lift herself from what looked to be a comfortable pose curled up on the earth. When Gabrielle finally looked up to her again, there was dirt on her face and a weakness in her eyes.

"You'd better never tell anyone I cried like a baby," Xena said, more for Gabrielle's benefit, to assure Gabrielle she hadn't been the only one to lose her ground.

In place of a smile, Gabrielle's tears stopped. "I'm ... not ready for jokes."

"I know."

Gabrielle got up onto her knees, and looked to Xena to see that the dark-haired woman wasn't used to tender affections, either. She was propped up there, awkwardly but with good intentions. It reminded Gabrielle of herself in such moments. Emotion wasn't something that often came easily to her. In fact, she wondered how she had opened herself to cry in front of another person.

"You gave up your Right of Caste."

"Yup," Gabrielle agreed full heartedly, finally lifting herself to her feet with some trouble. She was weak and tired. "You have a problem with that?"

"Looks like you might need a little break from Amazon life," Xena teased again, despite her better judgement. The slight and momentary smile she saw from Gabrielle had her thankful she'd taken the chance.

"I wish it were that easy ... No, I have to deal with all this."

"I understand," Xena said quietly, inadvertently having offered to bring Gabrielle along. Although she had been teasing Gabrielle, she felt the weight of that offer on her heart. What was her connection with Gabrielle? What did she feel? Was it compassion or affection? "Just promise me you'll ask for help if you need it."

"So you can try to kill me again?" Gabrielle asked quietly, as if she were teasing for the first time and testing out her capacity for humor.

There was no smile, but Xena sensed the smile and smiled in return. "I'll try to kill you again if I have to. No promises."

Gabrielle nodded, muttered her thanks, and made her way back toward the Amazons. She pushed down her sadness and weakness, knowing there would be more than enough pity as things were. She slowly changed the stride of her walk, but worried about the swelling of her eyes until she felt the wind pick up.

The afternoon was dim with the sky clouded over, and the wind added to the gloomy effect as it swept Gabrielle's hair up around her face. The wind dried her face and cooled the swelling as she stopped in place, and turned. Xena was gone.

Watching from the trees, Xena leaned her weight onto her left foot, and sighed while Gabrielle started on her way back again. The strength combined with the weakness of Gabrielle's guarded inner self had Xena deep in thought. After watching to be sure Gabrielle was back in the hands of the caring Amazons around her, Xena made her way to the nearest lake. She washed her face from the salty tears she had let fall, and thought hard about what had happened, and what she felt. Although she had held back from admitting anything in front of Gabrielle, something inside of her had changed. She had never seen anything that shook her as much as the turmoil behind Gabrielle's eyes.

The world was cruel, and Xena had always kept that truth in mind, but this was different. She cared about Gabrielle's fragmented state.

Xena focused on the grass under her palms as she looked out to the cold water, and felt comforted by the rough hair against her cheek. She was so used to being alone that she was confused for her liking of Gabrielle.

She would have to look in on Gabrielle from time-to-time to be certain she didn't need the help she happened to be incapable of requesting. Xena thought back to the defeated posture of the outwardly strongest woman she had ever seen, and she cried. In the safety and loneliness of the forest, Xena gave in to her feelings.

When she finished letting the emotion out, she rested until the Amazons were asleep to get her horse from its Amazon post. She stealthily snuck her way in, and walked the creature out before turning back one last time to the rooms where Gabrielle and Ephiny had slept. Xena hung her head in thought of Ephiny's death. Her tears had certainly been for Ephiny, too.

Gabrielle was awake in her room as the sun had set and the sky had darkened. Each time she looked out her high window to the black blanket of the night, she thought of Ephiny and how she had died a hero. Gabrielle wished she hadn't been quite as quick as she was. She wanted to have taken that sword. She shut out the emotions as she had trained herself to do since childhood, and turned onto her side with angst. She wondered how she would deal with the growing sadness inside of her, grabbing a skin of wine off a small table by her bed. It had been given by a friend to help comfort her in her difficult time, and she drank it without hesitation. She closed her eyes as it made its way into her system. She inhaled and exhaled. She relaxed with the persuasion of the drink. She slept to the peace of mind she found in the skin of a drink.

Over the next few days, Gabrielle was lost without the woman she had leant on for a long while without properly realizing it. She had just recently begun to open her concerns to Ephiny as well, and without her one confidante, Gabrielle's mind was a chaotic mess. She hadn't realized she loved Ephiny for nearly long enough before Ephiny was so harshly ripped from her.

At night, Gabrielle would see Ephiny's face in her lap - eyes slowly drifting, lips parted. She felt in those moments as if she needed something, but she couldn't understand exactly what it was. Instead of searching, which made her feel dangerously vulnerable, she shut everyone out.

It took only a short while for Gabrielle to extricate herself from her tribe, insisting she needed some time away. Not wishing to second guess a woman who had not long ago been their queen, they wished her well and sent her off with a horse. Gabrielle had always hated to ride, but she accepted the horse with a grateful hug from those who offered, and waved her farewell.

On her own, Gabrielle found her way into training eligible young men to fight. She earned a good living, and she was more than able to fight off any advances or harassment. In the evenings, she bought herself liquor to forget her sorrows: staying up, wanting women, and kissing them. She didn't find herself wanting anything more than a kiss, as anything more reminded her too much of Ephiny, but she came onto women and teased them as an escape from her sense of confusion and regret.

Some women didn't like to end things so easily, but even so intoxicated, Gabrielle's strength and technique alone kept her protected. However, one evening as Gabrielle was flirting and drinking with another warrior, there was another protective eye watching in the shadows.

Xena sat slouched at a back table - her messy black hair falling to shadow half of her face, the other half illuminated by the orangey-yellow glow of light. She had been around the area, and had caught a glimpse of Gabrielle when she was walking through the place a week ago. She had stayed because of the mess she had seen Gabrielle make of herself. Xena had counted four drinks that night, and the hard whiskey Gabrielle had ordered was no buzz-inducing drink. It was so strong a drink it bordered on poison. Xena glanced down to her port, and shook her head as yet another man came to sit at her table.

"I'm having a bad night," Xena explained - glad to see the man found another seat without any irritating lines or touches.

Xena figured during her time in that place that many of the men had become excited by the idea of a woman as strong and capable as Gabrielle. She smiled into her drink at the thought of the power behind Gabrielle's fighting. Xena had come to admire it during her several days in the area. It was Gabrielle's arms that surprised her most of all - the strength of a man in a petite woman like Gabrielle. It was both endearing and seductive. Xena understood the attraction, but she wished others would respect Gabrielle's wishes when she asked for her space.

When Xena imagined Ephiny's disapproval of the drunkards leering at Gabrielle, Xena hung her head with a terrible sadness. She missed Ephiny, too.

"Can I get you another?" a woman warrior asked aside Gabrielle at the bar counter - Xena only able to read the physical conversation from between the moving bodies down the aisles. "You sure you can stand with all that in you, honey?"

"Fuck off," Gabrielle mumbled, finishing the drink in her hand to shake her head and blink her eyes hard twice. In only a month's time, she had built up an incredible resistance to hard liquor. It affected her inside, but like so much else, she was able to hold the truth inside. She was able to force herself to stand, walk, and carry on a conversation when all she wanted inside was to lie down and cry.

"And here I thought you wanted me," the woman smirked, inching herself a little closer to Gabrielle, kissing her when Gabrielle turned her way.

Gabrielle allowed the kiss as it often sent a sort of release through her, but then she pushed at the woman's shoulders, and kept her arm extended there. "Okay ... it's been fun ... but that's it."

Like many who didn't like to hear the word "no," Gabrielle had a feeling the woman would try putting her hands on her bare torso when she turned around, but when she glanced back at the reaction she was likely to see, she was stunned. There behind her was the woman she'd been kissing in Xena's fantastic chokehold, dragged from the establishment in choking gasps.

Gabrielle noticed she'd been holding her breath when another person shuffled past her, returning her eyes to the counter top - to the empty glass staring back at her.

Xena dragged the woman outside and sent her off with a swift kick to the rear while Gabrielle grinned darkly into her drink: intoxicated beyond healthy reason.

After the other woman took off, Xena found her way back inside and strutted up to the counter in her endlessly exhausted and yet careless manner. Gabrielle caught the sight out of the corner of her eye as Xena stood there, gesturing to the empty stool beside Gabrielle: "This seat taken?"


	8. Chapter 8

Xena took a seat on the empty stool when Gabrielle's only reaction to her question was a drunken grin.

Gabrielle focused her blurry gaze on the back of the bar where the bottles of liquor sat, blinking to force some sentiment of logic back to mind. Sitting next to Xena was yet another reminder of Ephiny, and the memory sent shame through her for the weak path she'd started toward.

Xena threw the other woman's drink back in one hard and disgusting gulp.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes at the macho behaviour. She was surprised with the humor she felt in that moment aside Xena.

"Hey," Xena said, observing Gabrielle. She was somewhat confused by the humored expression that washed over the blond's face, but attributed the reaction to the whiskey. She took a long and observant look at Gabrielle, and saw a sincere glance back from the green eyes she had thought about in days past. "Let's get you to bed."

"I don't need help up," Gabrielle mumbled, just loudly enough at the rowdy bar. She was staring straight ahead when Xena looked back to her again, sighing. There had been a time in Xena's past when she was just as much a mess. Gabrielle's defeat was a biting reminder of the time Xena herself had spent drinking her way to the floor. It was not a time she looked back on with pride. She wondered what she could do to keep Gabrielle from swimming in her destructive state for long.

"I have a place set up out a little to the east," Xena said, leaning in toward Gabrielle to keep the location between them. The lean had Gabrielle momentarily glancing into abundant cleavage - pulling her eyes up to Xena's when the warrior smiled at Gabrielle's adorably innocent expression. "You look like I might have to drag you all the way ... is that the case?"

Gabrielle didn't smile or tease in return, but tried as best she could to stand with balance on her feet. The barstool at her back offered some support, but she had been just as drunk many nights before. She knew the importance of never letting on to how drunk she was, or she would have welcomed trouble. With Xena at her side, Gabrielle knew she would be safe no matter her state, but she hated to depend on others, so she pushed her shoulders back and started her independent way to the door.

Xena was surprised with the smile tugging at her own lips. To some, Gabrielle's stubbornness may have been off-putting, but Xena admired it. There was something very special about Gabrielle - a connection Xena didn't understand. She wondered about Gabrielle's ability to walk as she followed her out of the bar. Xena herself was feeling the kick of her drink, so she wondered how Gabrielle had been able to facilitate proper movement.

"I'm surprised you can put one foot in front of the other," Xena teased, noticing that Gabrielle was very purposefully shifting her weight around as normally as possible. Everything about her posture and her walk in that moment was forced.

"I walk just fine," Gabrielle insisted, adamant the more Xena teased her about drunkenness. The blurs that inhibited her usually immaculate sight and the imbalance that found its way to her core were challenges. That was all. She could have walked all night, she told herself. She WOULD walk all night if it proved she could tolerate her drink.

"Okay, Almighty Traveller," Xena chuckled to herself, gesturing out to the woods - the opposite direction of the smaller woman drifting away from her. "But I'm this way."

Just as Gabrielle turned to the voice, she nearly tripped over her two feet - forcing an upright posture with all the grace she did not possess just then. She sighed with effort, focusing on Xena with her hands out.

Xena's smile broke when she noted just how self-conscious and uncertain Gabrielle was. As strong and capable as she insisted she was, there was a woman inside of her just dying to be held. To be helped.

A sympathetic pain reached Xena's heart with the sight.

"Let me help you and I won't speak a word of this again," Xena instructed. It sounded more like a command, but Gabrielle didn't snap back with anything. She simply walked over with the control she could still maintain within herself, allowing Xena's arm under hers - supporting her.

Gabrielle began to feel the stupor she had drunk herself into once they had finally made their way into the woods and out of sight from any prying eyes. Gabrielle's arms went a little limp first, warning Xena of the legs to go next. By the time Gabrielle would have fallen over, Xena had her placed over a strong shoulder. Xena was saddened for the time she hadn't been around to watch over Gabrielle - worried that anyone could have carted her off into the woods. She wondered how Gabrielle kept herself safe. Did she keep herself safe? She knew it wasn't exactly her place to worry, but she couldn't seem to help herself. She smiled when she imagined Gabrielle telling her to mind her own business, for Hades's sake.

Xena felt the weight on her shoulder shift for a moment.

"... Ephiny?"

Xena sighed silently, trudging along to ignore the small voice reaching out for the only comfort she knew.

"Eph ...? Wh ... what's everything moving for?"

When Xena couldn't take it anymore, she responded: "Ephiny's asleep, Gabrielle."

It was silent for a moment, and then Gabrielle's voice cut in through the dark: "... I know."

Xena found her spot with little difficulty, patting her horse and finally letting Gabrielle down gently to the ground. Just before Gabrielle's head fell back to hit the dirt, Xena's free hand raced under her neck and eased it down. Xena kept her hand in place - her eyes curiously racing over the woman's familiar face - to see the silent expression of beauty. Gabrielle's soft skin looked painted to perfection, even with the sheen of sweat covering her body from the drunken, sickened state.

Xena frowned at the tug she felt to care for Gabrielle, watching the head tilt to one side, and slowly to the other. The feather-soft blond hair was so delicate for a woman so otherwise insistently tough. The contrast brought a smile to Xena's lips.

"Mmm ..." Gabrielle groaned, pulling herself onto her side for her natural safety during the night, should she become ill.

Xena watched the body tug away, staring at the slice of Gabrielle's profile still available to her. She was lost in clouded thoughts until her knees ached, forcing her to find a new position. Many times during the night, Xena woke to Gabrielle's groaning or the absence of the sleeper's heavy breathing.

The resistant body sleeping just a sword's width away had Xena wondering to herself why she held such sympathy and care for a stranger. She had known many strong women in her past - damaged, even - but none like Gabrielle. The more Gabrielle flailed or grunted in her sleep, the more Xena cursed her instinctive protective reactions. Those instincts were seen as insulting to the young blond, and yet Xena shot into wakefulness with each sound. She sat up, panting with an eye on the still woman who somehow found a way to rest even with her restlessness.

Xena wished there were some way she could treat Gabrielle like any other acquaintance - let her fend for herself - but it seemed impossible. Worst of all, Xena didn't understand the need she felt. Gabrielle could take care of herself. Was Xena interested in Gabrielle? It didn't feel like anything she had felt before.

As last, she shut her eyes and willed herself not to wake again.

Gabrielle lay awake on her side - looking out toward the dark woods with a tear track over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were closed but her thoughts raced to images of Ephiny and blurred glimpses of the evenings she had wasted. She felt that she herself was melting away with the absence of Ephiny at her side. She wanted to watch Ephiny fight one more time; she wanted to tell Ephiny she was sorry - sorry for everything. What was she doing to herself? What would Ephiny think?

The amount of alcohol she had that night alone had her feeling so ill she prayed Ephiny would forgive her. If an infamous woman like Xena had time to drag her out of that spoiled bar, Gabrielle had the time to realize her mistakes. She promised it to herself as she laid there that night, wishing for sleep and fearing the illness that would surely follow her poor decisions. She had been sick many nights after recklessly downing drinks, but she had never felt as awful as she did then. She cried silently for Ephiny's demise, and for the situation she had made for herself afterward. Slow, silent tears cooled her face as she boiled with regret. She was tired, sad, and her body was exhausted. With a few practiced breaths, she calmed herself into submission and gave in to Morpheus's realm.

Xena awoke with the sounds of quiet groaning, but she looked out to Gabrielle sensing that the independent warrior would not much like being watched while she became violently ill. Knowing as much, Xena closed her eyes again and played at sleep.

Gabrielle stumbled off and vomited once she had hurried far enough away. She cried, was sick once again, and wandered into the trees and shrubbery to find the perfect leaves to rid her of the aftertaste. After she had found and chewed a sappy leaf concoction, she spat it out, took another piece to chew, and spat again.

When she made her way back to camp, Xena was gone, but her things remained. In a way, Gabrielle was glad for some privacy. She sat on her knees, and held in her emotions while shifting into a pose for her old morning routine. She remembered how Ephiny had always enjoyed the poses and the peace they brought her.

"Want some of this?" Xena interrupted, holding one of her skins out to the blond warrior woman.

Gabrielle lifted her head calmly, observing the item: "What's in it?"

With one leg lifted up and balanced in midair, Xena was impressed Gabrielle could pay her much attention, but she offered the drink a little closer anyway. "It's whiskey."

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Gabrielle scoffed dismissively, dipping her head down, and switching legs.

"No - you can swish it around in your mouth and spit it out. It might help."

Gabrielle understood the intention then. "Thanks, but I have my own concoction."

"You carry a cure for drunkenness in your clothing?"

Gabrielle let out a breath of laughter, and changed positions again with as much grace as she could possibly hold. "No. I made it." She inhaled, held her breath in, and then slowly released it as if she were releasing her problems into the air. "It's kind of you, though. To offer it."

Xena watched Gabrielle as she stretched with both eyes closed - senses open. "Uh huh ... well, it's fine. I ... thought you might need it."

"I was sick, but I'm fine now."

Xena leaned back on one foot, shrugging. "Hey look, I don't go around taking care of drunk women. I just recognized you, and it looked like you needed a little help."

Gabrielle paused her routine, and looked up at Xena. "Thank you for your help. I'm not proud of the weakness I showed yesterday."

"Not really weakness, when you lose someone ..."

"Tears are weakness," Gabrielle answered as if the two phrases belonged as one. It seemed as though it were a statement Gabrielle had chanted to herself for some time.

"Right ..."

"I don't really wanna talk, but I can see you'd like to talk. Is there something you want to ask me?"

Xena was surprised by Gabrielle's bold approach. She had never met a woman so intelligent and yet so entirely oblivious. "Actually ... yes." Xena sat down with her feet parted and planted on the ground. She pressed her forearms over her knees, and focused on Gabrielle. "What happened?"

Gabrielle found the approach refreshing. Had anyone truly asked her that? She couldn't recall such a conversation - a simple question that could reveal everything. Gabrielle shifted onto her knees, and brought one foot out to plant itself in the dirt much like Xena's. One hand fell to the dirt, scattering shards of wood.

"I ... woke up captured. I felt ill, and I checked myself only to realize I'd been shot with some sort of drugged arrow. I worried immediately for my tribe-"

"You don't have to describe it so much if you don't want," Xena assured quickly - stunned with the distant picture Gabrielle was painting for her. She knew all about the cold fact of events, but these events had completely crumbled Gabrielle. She wondered how it could be so easy to recount.

"Do you want to know or not?" Gabrielle asked, breathing deeper for only a moment before fixing the pattern and steeling her gaze on the Warrior Princess herself.

Xena couldn't help but smile at the attitude of such a soft-looking woman. She lifted her hands from the wrists, and smiled fully. "My mistake ... Go on."

"I worried for the others, but they were nowhere I could see. It seemed like I was the only target. I was glad, but worried, of course. I kept pressure on my injury and tried escaping from the strange sort of cell I was kept in, but it was no use. I was only in there for a few hours, anyway, until my tribe came for me."

"We don't have to talk about Ephiny if you don't want," Xena offered, in part to gage how Gabrielle might react at the mention of Ephiny's name.

Gabrielle's expression fell a little deeper, but she brought her eyes up again and recalibrated her expression by force. "It's fine. I just want to get it all out at once."

"Okay."

"So they came before I could really get answers from my captors, and charged. They fought with such ferocity ... I was so proud," Gabrielle smiled for once in what felt like an eternity. She continued before the smile had dissolved: "They fought, and I think my captors were worried I'd be taken back, so I was let out and pinned by what must have been slaves - they weren't centaurs. There were four of them, but I was so angry and determined that I fought them. I fought them well, as a matter of fact."

Xena couldn't help but smile at the confidence in Gabrielle's voice. "I'm sure you did."

"If this is some sort of jab at me-"

"You're a good fighter. I was being sincere," Xena said evenly, sensing Gabrielle would accept her truth.

Gabrielle accepted by continuing her recount, crushing dirt between her fingers: "It was bloody ... it was a fight to end a war ... but we were winning by a landslide. The women were rushing the crowd with some of our archers in the trees. When they finally reached me, the faces were a blur all except for Ephiny's ..."

"She had a really memorable face," Xena nodded, remembering the prominent cheek bones and shapely lips. "She was beautiful."

"Yeah ... she was."

Xena bowed her head, sighing for a moment of remembrance.

Gabrielle looked down to the dirt again, building up her strength inside as she pushed on: "Yeah ... and there she was, fighting like I'd never seen her fight before. She was ... immaculate. She came whirling through the man I was fighting - cutting him down right there in front of me - and she pulled me close ... Gods ... some nights I think about the way she did it, and I wonder how she had that passion ... that ... that feeling behind her fight ..."

Xena watched Gabrielle carefully as she explained, because it was the first time a glimpse of a weaker Gabrielle came out to greet her. It was fascinating.

Brows lifted and relaxed as Gabrielle continued: "She fought so hard I could ... feel her love for me. She was so worried something might happen to me - I never even stopped to think something would happen to HER."

"You're a tactical fighter. One of the best I've ever seen."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, but held back her smile. "You can quit flattering me. It won't change the difficulty of my memories."

Xena was amazed at how confident Gabrielle could be one moment, and how unceratin she could be the next. The tendency deserved some teasing, Xena figured. "You can quit flattering YOURSELF. I'm making an observation, alright?"

When their eyes met again, Gabrielle pulled a half-smile at Xena's smirk before the solemn moment caught up with them again.

"Anyway ... so she fought there next to me, and there was so much going on ... it's almost ... it's hard to think about."

Xena put her hand down in the dirt across from Gabrielle's, and caught her eyes. "That's normal." Once she had Gabrielle's full attention, she nodded. "It's normal to have trouble thinking about it."

Gabrielle looked down, and took a minute to compose herself.

"So she watched me in the midst of it all," she began again, jumping into the event once more: "And she guarded me as Ephiny tended to do ... I even caught her eye a few times as we were making our way, and then before I could turn fully to see what was happening, I felt someone crash into me so forcefully, I was thrown to the ground." Gabrielle looked down into her hands, lost. "I ... I jumped to my feet, and looked at Ephiny lying there ... but it was like I couldn't see her ..."

Xena's face was still as she watched Gabrielle.

"It was ... like I didn't think it really happened, I guess ..." Gabrielle swallowed, shutting her eyes and then opening them again with what strength she had left. "Ephiny was lying there, dying ... and I looked up and there was this man with his sword bloodied, already turning to another fighter. My blood was boiling ... I had never felt anything as dark but it was there inside me. It was like one moment I didn't know what my own darkness was ... and the next moment ... it was all I had ..."

The details of the event were very telling of Gabrielle's emotional state, but Xena wondered if Gabrielle knew how she felt. She knew how to explain the situation, but did she understand how she felt about it?

"I held her ... I held her and kissed her one last time as she slipped away from me. I held her so tightly ... I wanted to carry her and just keep running ... I was losing my mind ..." Gabrielle whispered, clearing her throat to keep her voice from cracking. "I was there with her, but then ... as soon as she was gone from me, I got up and I took my sword in my hand, and I found the man who had put his sword through her ... I fought him mercilessly ... I ... I tortured him on purpose ... I'd never done that before ... Slicing ... pushing my blade into him ... I didn't kill him quickly ..."

"We all have things we're not proud of," Xena consoled quietly.

Gabrielle acknowledged the words, but she didn't look up. "Well ... I lost my mind. I lost it on anyone who tried to touch me, because I felt like I had to send her off properly, and if they took me down ... she somehow wouldn't be properly respected. So in fighting me ... they were fighting Ephiny ... and I couldn't take it. I came at them two, three at a time. I was wild, and I'm sure I scared the others ... Even after it was over ... two Amazons had to corral me just to keep me in place. I must have had blood all over me ..."

"Maybe we can talk about it later, Gabrielle."

It was the use of her name, and the way in which Xena spoke it that distracted Gabrielle long enough to calm the panic in her mind. She rubbed the dirt from her fingers onto her hand, and then she rubbed her hands together until they were red. She stopped when she realized Xena was watching her.

In that moment, Gabrielle looked back at her with wonder: "Xena ... Why are you helping me?"

"Why not?"

"Well ... why are you putting yourself out there to help me?" Gabrielle asked with a mounting curiosity that showed in her eyes. "I didn't meet you in the best of circumstances, and ... well, what have I really done for you? Even when I tried to help you, what good did I do? Get bitten by a snake and made you carry me?"

"I didn't introduce myself in the best of ways, either," Xena reminded her, gesturing up to Gabrielle's eye.

"Yeah, that hurt, by the way."

Xena smiled apologetically. "I never meant to hurt you. I was caged like an animal."

Gabrielle nodded, and shifted positions to relax her back. "I bought you like an animal. I was desperate myself."

"About that slave business - aren't you a little sour I'm free after all that?"

The grin on Xena's face had Gabrielle smiling in return - a feat that had Xena pleased all over again with her ability to bring out a happy reaction in an otherwise closed and tormented young woman.

They spent the rest of the morning in pieces of conversation while they packed up the area and ate. It was getting warm outside by the time Xena posed a question to the hungry Gabrielle.

"So, are you staying in this town, or what?"

Gabrielle looked up from her food mid-bite.

"YOU know. Are you gonna stay here and make a little home for yourself? I don't even know where you're staying."

"Don't lie to me," Gabrielle smiled with a mouthful of food: a sight Xena found more endearing than she dared to let on. Gabrielle finished chewing her food. "If you saw me here, I know you took your time to feel this place out. Isn't that right?"

Xena watched Gabrielle pick at her food, quite interested in the ex-queen's perception of her. "Yes ... how did you know?"

"Because," Gabrielle started, realizing the answer she had ready in mind wouldn't have made much sense. She DIDN'T know Xena. "Because I'm good with things like that."

"So how many nights was I here?" Xena asked, a part of her feeling vulnerable with the apparent way Gabrielle could see right through her. "Hmm? I mean, because you're so good with things like that."

Gabrielle smiled at Xena's mocking tone, and admitted only to herself that the joking around had begun to grow on her. She pursed her lips and licked her thumb to give the question some real thought.

Xena ignored the attractive act.

"Hmm ... maybe ... what, three nights?"

Oblivious to Xena's peripheral attention, Gabrielle picked a bread crumb off her skirt, and brought it to her lips.

Xena rubbed her eyes and looked over to Gabrielle once it was safe to do so. "That's pretty close."

Gabrielle gave her a torn smile - still conflicted and pained, but present nonetheless.

Xena noted that Gabrielle was a very different person once pulled away from a crowd. She was more tender and pleasant out of the public eye. She turned to Gabrielle with a strange connective sense between them: "What do you like to do? ... If you could do something this moment ... what would you do?"

"Escape. I mean ... I think of telling stories, and I can just ... escape."

Xena was intrigued by the answer, but Gabrielle quickly laughed it off, surprising herself with the confession. She hadn't thought of her story-telling for a long time, and whenever she did, there were important things to write. There was no sense in making up a world of fiction when her world was already swimming with such chaos.

Xena was surprised with the confession as well, but she didn't let it show. The answer would be something she would store in her mind for the right time to lift it out again. For the time being, Gabrielle seemed sensitive about it. Hoping to rid Gabrielle of any self-doubt, Xena tried her hand at a compliment: "You know ... I've never met a woman as strong as you."

Both women thought to Ephiny in that moment, honoring one of the most incredible warriors they had ever known.

"And ... I wouldn't want anything to happen to you," Xena added, maybe a little closer than before.

The idea of Ephiny hung in the air, and Gabrielle understood the meaning. She lifted her head, and saw sincerity in Xena's eyes.

In that very moment, Gabrielle felt a certain spark there between them, but it evaporated just as quickly when Xena awkwardly lifted herself to her feet, slapping her stomach. "Well!" the dark warrior said rather clumsily, "Time to start on the road!"

"What are you talking about?" Gabrielle asked, her head aching with her eyes searching the milky blue sky just over the horizon.

"We're going for a little trip," Xena instructed, taking Gabrielle's arm and helping her up when Gabrielle didn't take her hand.

"Will you quit pulling me around?!" Gabrielle asked with irritation and only a hint of laughter once she'd shoved Xena back with frustration. Her hair which had grown down for the ends to sit on her shoulders tickled the back of her neck. Her outfit felt somehow foreign as Xena laughed and gave her a gentle shove in return.

"Oh, just checking you're feeling like yourself."

Gabrielle tried to keep a glare as Xena walked over to her horse, and patted its mane. The menacing smile Xena had on from the stunt had a smile growing over Gabrielle's lips that was both irritating and welcome.

"So. You want some help figuring out who was behind your capture?"

Gabrielle inhaled - not ready, but unwilling to admit as much. "I ... suppose I should."

Before Gabrielle could see what was thrown her way, a scroll hit her chest, landing in arms that had come up instinctively to catch the object. She looked at the empty thing, and frowned to the taller, darker woman.

"What ... in Tartarus?"

"Don't tell me you don't like things thrown at you now?" Xena smirked, leaning onto her horse. "We could get you a little quill somewhere along the way. I was thinking ... maybe you should write down what you think about that whole situation before we walk into it ... It might help."

But Gabrielle didn't know. She had always forced herself into uncomfortable or intense situations. She had never allowed herself time such as the time Xena was offering to her with a friendly smile and knowing eyes.

Xena figured it was what Gabrielle needed, and it was. Gabrielle simply didn't know how to accept - standing in place with a lost expression that told of her inability to ask for the extra time herself.

"How ... do you just have this lying around?" Gabrielle finally asked with enthusiasm as her eyes raced over the parchment. She hadn't allowed herself to write openly and imaginatively since she was a child, and even then, she never had scrolls.

Xena thought it such a shame for a young woman like Gabrielle to have kept herself from happiness for so much of her life. She found that offering such exciting moments to Gabrielle was an infectious feeling that surged her with a similarly overwhelming happiness.

They went back into town for a few things and for Gabrielle to tie up her loose ends before they decided on a nice, long walk to the south. It was a silent agreement that Gabrielle should accompany Xena on the road for a while, just as Xena silently agreed not to push the topic of Ephiny's justice. Gabrielle needed some time away, and Xena gladly accepted Gabrielle as a guest in her travels.

On the road, headed in the opposite direction of the Amazon village, Xena spoke very highly of Ephiny. She wanted Gabrielle to know how highly she thought of the woman, and how incredible it had been to see a woman share her feelings so openly, regardless of the audience.

Gabrielle took the conversation in with each breath, thinking fondly of Ephiny as they trudged their way along - both walking alongside their horses with reins-in-hand. She smiled when Xena mentioned the way Ephiny was so easily affected by the connection between her and Gabrielle.

At that thought, Gabrielle focused ahead, and nodded. She wondered something herself: "Did you ... I mean, was there ever a person who meant a lot to you ... who was killed?"

Seeing how difficult it was just for Gabrielle to ask her question, Xena gave it more thought than necessary. She had her answer in mind. There was a heavier weight to her steps as she forced herself onward. "Yes."

"Will you tell me about them?"

With the innocent inquiry from her newfound company, Xena sighed and decided to give the woman what she so simply asked for. It was a difficult conversation for her but she nodded and carried on as best she could.

"I'm not ready to talk about him right now ... but ... my little brother was killed. He was really young."

Gabrielle was entirely surprised - eyes raking quickly over Xena's profile in the sunny light of the day to find a crushing sort of pain. She quickly diverted her eyes to the path ahead of them, and stuck both of her feet in the dirt.

Xena stopped and turned when she noticed Gabrielle had stilled.

"Oh no ... Is this you making some kind of statement?"

Gabrielle leant her a soft smile, and gestured into the woods. "I hear a stream that way. I'd ... really like to clean up, if you don't mind."

"As long as you don't mind my staying here," Xena answered, adding quickly: "To watch the horses."

Gabrielle chuckled at the strange answer, and handed Xena her horse's reins. "I'm trusting you."

As jokingly as Gabrielle had said the words, Xena accepted the reins, and watched the petite warrior march her way off, into the trees. Did she have nothing to say in return? Was there no smart reply or teasing joke?

"Okay," Xena choked out at last, watching Gabrielle disappear into the thicket - too far to hear her. She ignored her body's reaction to the mere thought of watching Gabrielle undress, and busied herself blowing on long sleeves of grass to create a sort of whistle.

When Gabrielle returned, she walked up to the crouching warrior.

Xena felt something touching a thick wave of her impossible hair, and whipped around - questioning eyes searching Gabrielle's. No one had ever been able to sneak up on her before, and yet here was this small blond surprising her without meaning to do so.

"For every time you pull me around, I get to do something about this hair," Gabrielle teased, laughing at the look on Xena's face. "Oh, come on. It's knotted. Let me help."

Xena stood, and looked to the soft wet hair that fell into Gabrielle's eyes. The woman aside her certainly knew how to take care of the troublesome things. Xena found herself wondering what was the worst thing that could happen.

"O ... kay."

Later that afternoon, when they had settled off the path for Gabrielle to help with Xena's hair at last, the dark warrior would have that answer.


	9. Chapter 9

Gabrielle stood carefully while brushing Xena's hair out with her comb as the taller woman sat groaning on a low rock. At each childish whine that came from Xena, Gabrielle smiled. She couldn't help but wonder how Xena had come upon all the battle scars that were visibly on her arms and legs, and yet complained so fluidly about hair.

"It's almost out."

"Thank Gods," Xena groaned again, her shoulders tense and pinched at the back of her neck. "I can't believe I let you do this."

"I meant this one knot," Gabrielle said with a roll of her eyes. "Mighty tough you are there, Warrior."

Xena growled, and it made Gabrielle laugh.

"Easy there, girl."

"You wouldn't be this rough with my HORSE! Why are you pulling at it like that?"

Gabrielle stopped her teasing, and put the comb down on the rock beside Xena. Instead, she ran her fingers through the thick hair. "I'm sorry ... I guess I was too rough."

Xena's shoulders visibly eased themselves downward as she sighed with relief.

"I had a sister, but we never really did anything like this ... I guess I'm no good at it."

Gabrielle had no intent to guilt, and the honest confession tugged at Xena's heart all over again. It wasn't enough sympathy for Xena to throw herself back into the pain, but she smiled to herself at the explanation. "Well ... maybe just don't try so hard to hurt me next time."

With a whack to her shoulder, Xena grinned.

"You just shut it or I'll pull harder next time."

"There won't be a next time," Xena laughed, always glad to hear Gabrielle's quieter laugh shadow her own in their conversations. Gabrielle had a softer laugh that laced so beautifully with her own.

"You wish, but I have a feeling you'll pull me around again before we part ways, and a deal is a deal."

With the feel of Gabrielle's strong fingers in her hair, Xena inhaled and smiled at that truth. She had a feeling there would be more pulling around, indeed ...

They stayed in their places for another few silent minutes while Gabrielle found the last few knotted areas near the ends of Xena's hair. She tried to work them out with her fingers, but the strands were too tangled for fingers.

While Xena's shoulders shot up again, she heard Gabrielle's hesitant voice behind her.

"You know ... your hair is really thick. It stands out."

Xena frowned, wondering what that meant.

Gabrielle smiled when she sensed Xena had taken her comment as insult. "I mean ... that day I was poisoned, and I opened my eyes - I knew it was you right away because of your hair."

Xena froze, waiting to hear what Gabrielle was going to say.

In place of judgement or jokes, Gabrielle made a touching observation: "It's beautiful."

The softest smile found Xena in a moment that seemed to be filled with negative commentary. Had Gabrielle just complimented her? Xena had never thought of her hair as anything but a nuissance. Gabrielle liked the hair more than Xena liked it herself. She didn't know how to take that.

In fact, Xena found that she felt that way about a number of Gabrielle's traits. The more Xena glanced over at Gabrielle or watched the woman's face as she told yet another tale by the fire, the more she came to admire them. There was a shadow that covered Gabrielle's eyes and a goofy smile that Gabrielle always tried desperately to tame. There was a freer woman inside of the collected blond warrior that was dying to find its way out.

Xena came to view the young woman as a friend over the week or so they had travelled together. There hadn't been many in Xena's history that had acquired the title of friend, but Gabrielle was most certainly a friend. Somewhere in the depths of Xena's heart, she yearned for more, but she wouldn't allow herself to fully realize it. She held back her feelings subconsciously for the nights Gabrielle awoke, crying for Ephiny. Xena knew her heart couldn't take such harrowing rejection.

In light of the sadness Gabrielle felt at times, she had come to enjoy playing with Xena's hair. She had bothered the tall woman a number of times about washing it, and Xena had promised to do so, but hadn't. At last, Gabrielle took the task upon herself. She had bought some soap along the road, and made a deal with Xena: they kept their clothes on, and Gabrielle could wash her hair.

Gabrielle watched Xena with wonderment as they placed all of their things down to bathe in the river. Xena hadn't seemed to be a woman self conscious of her body - the opposite, in fact. And yet, she had insisted on remaining clothed. Both of them.

"You know," Gabrielle gasped at feeling the cool water around her knees. "I've been having fun, us on the road. It's been ... fun ... which isn't something I'm used to."

"Me neither," Xena smiled back, wading in easily - her head disappearing under the surface of the water only to surface again with a sigh.

Gabrielle gritted her teeth and waded in the same, feeling the water prickle at her quickly-cooling skin. "Yeah ..." she whispered with discomfort, feeling the mud from the bottom of the river against her feet. "Well ... I just don't think I can wear clothes every time we bathe ... You know I wouldn't say anything, don't you?"

"Not what I'm worried about," Xena muttered along the top of the water.

"What?"

"I said it's fine."

"No you didn't," Gabrielle laughed, shivering with the water up to her shoulders. Quite gently, Gabrielle tossed an inquisitive look to Xena: "Do you enjoy making me suffer or what?"

Xena wasn't necessarily listening to the question. She listened to the blurry sounds under the water while she floated on her back, feeling at one with nature. Xena lost her concerns in the nature of her surroundings with the current taking her downstream before she turned, and waded back to her new friend.

Gabrielle looked unimpressed, but Xena simply shrugged.

"Sorry ... I find the water very relaxing. I'm not used to company."

"It's fine, but ... is this a joke? Can I take this off?" Gabrielle asked, shivering from the cold each time her clothed shoulders and chest were exposed from the lapping water to the biting wind.

"Sure, just like you don't have to wash this mess on my head ..."

"Fine - just get over here."

They bickered tenderly as they so comfortably had become accustomed to in days past. It was a kind of disagreement that felt entirely comfortable and respectful between them.

As Gabrielle gently washed Xena's hair, she did it so thoroughly that Xena began relaxing altogether too deeply. Eventually, Xena's legs wobbled, and she slipped under the water with the current.

The slip was followed by a small bout of laughter from Gabrielle who was then splashed and chased only to be held around the waist and heaved back into the water. Gabrielle screamed in disbelief once she crawled back up onto shore on the opposite side of the river - her jaw dropped at the audacity of one very strong Warrior Princess. She readied herself for revenge as Xena slipped further into the water to come get her.

"Come at me and we'll just see what happens," Gabrielle taunted with as much confidence as Xena held toward amateur fighters. It was an attitude Xena found endearing.

Gabrielle took the opportunity of surprise to rush the woman with a playfulness she hadn't felt since her childhood. She had been silly around some of the Amazon women, but it was never as curious, adventurous and careless as her spontaneous moments with Xena. There was some small token of spirited carelessness that inspired her to explore the same aspects in herself. It didn't even seem to be a choice - Gabrielle was lighted with playfulness.

Wading into the water again, Gabrielle was caught by the current. She splashed clumsily onto the surface when a hand reached out and kept her from being pulled to the bottom of the riverbed.

"Pretty confident for a woman who can't swim," Xena said almost as a kind of reminder once she had grabbed the blond with one strong arm.

Gabrielle pushed at the arm with such power that her abdomen flexed, surprising Xena with the force. Then, suddenly, Gabrielle realized what Xena had just said. "How did you know that ...?"

"I had my suspicions - Amazons aren't known for their water skills."

Then Gabrielle gasped, and slapped the arm that held her, finally wriggling free to stand waist-deep in the river. "Wait a minute! But you threw me in!"

"You made it out okay," Xena smirked, laughing with gusto when Gabrielle slapped her shoulder.

"What in Tartarus were you thinking?!"

"You're strong and the river's shallow! Look - it's only up to your waist. Besides ... I'm right here."

"Oh, good." Gabrielle chuckled, despite her mood at hearing Xena knew something she had always tried desperately to hide from others. Xena always seemed to be able to see her differently, and that made her feel weak. She shut down the curious feeling that had thrived only a moment ago, and started her way out of the water.

Xena so desperately wanted to grab that wrist and pull Gabrielle back to explain the way she was beginning to feel, but something stopped her. It was too soon after Ephiny passed. Just thinking about Ephiny, Xena hung her head. She hadn't meant to develop those feelings for Gabrielle, but she was helpless against the chemistry that danced there between them. Feelings were developing quicker than she could do anything to control them.

Gabrielle walked with her faux anger over to their things, drying herself with the only piece of dry material. She wondered why Xena teased her so terribly at times just to bring new pieces of her to light. Gabrielle questioned for a moment if Xena felt something for her beyond friendship, but Xena didn't have any interest in seeing her undressed. She had been oblivious about Ephiny in the past - was there something she wasn't seeing? Xena didn't seem to be very loving toward her.

When Xena came around to reach the rolls of bedding still tied to the horse, Gabrielle turned with a puzzling expression as Xena spoke: "What's going on in there?"

Gabrielle sighed and threw Xena the damp towel. "Nothing."

"You tease yourself better than I do," Xena grinned, catching the towel to see there were no useful dry portions to use - pitching it over her shoulder.

"It's nothing," Gabrielle insisted once more just as they both turned to a sound from twenty feet away. Their conversation was silenced with their combined instincts toward the snapping twigs. The intruder was large - possibly human.

Xena held her breath and waited for another sound to accompany the first.

Gabrielle's eyes raced aggressively over the terrain, holding her arm out instinctively to remind her company to stay back. Even as Queen Gabrielle, she often took it upon herself to stay the front lines of the dangers she faced.

When a man stepped out, Gabrielle's stance changed entirely. The stranger was standing in an aggressive stance himself, and suddenly Gabrielle's memory shot back to the moment Ephiny took a man's sword to her stomach. The concern of another deadly encounter was real, and Gabrielle's heart wouldn't tolerate the threat. The atmosphere had shifted in that single moment, and Gabrielle was on guard both physically and emotionally. Xena simply turned her attention to the man only to be distracted by a sudden movement from her left.

Gabrielle lunged for her horse's saddle to grab her sword, and held it out. It was done furiously and with fear.

"Now now," Xena interjected, standing out from her place behind Gabrielle to lower the weapon. "Let's see what the man wants."

Gabrielle allowed the pressure of Xena's pointer finger to weigh the sword down only with great control. All other parts of her wanted to tear the man to shreds - feral and angry - but she held back for the friend at her side.

"So ..." Xena drawled, crossing her arms to squint toward the sneaking wanderer: "What does he want?"

"No sense in holding up a thing like that unless you know how to use it," the man snickered, pulling out his own knife. "I'm here for that horse. It won't be hard. Just let her to me and we don't need any trouble."

Xena laughed and stepped over to him with a growl in the background she easily attributed to Gabrielle. Xena glanced quickly over her shoulder to the petite woman for reassurance when the man tried his hand at hostage-keeping.

He quickly realized what a grave mistake he had made.

Without a thought, Xena dodged the grab with expertise, only to give way to a storm of rage from Gabrielle. The shorter woman made up with power what she lacked in size. The sword had dropped in the mindless rush she had felt, and she was left with her tactical fist-fighting techniques which served her well. She ran in toward the man with a swinging kick that threw his knife, and started with her powerhouse hits that sent him onto his back.

Xena stood in complete shock as Gabrielle first disabled the man's weapon and attacked with little regard to the situation. The simplistic and harmful manoeouvers Gabrielle practiced against the man had Xena wondering if she had snapped. There seemed to be only a trace of Gabrielle in the body of the strong young woman. It was an animalistic fight that Gabrielle had in her.

By the time Xena pulled Gabrielle off the man, his face and chest were bloodied.

"Gods, Gabrielle ..." Xena mumbled against the squirming, tireless fight in the smaller warrior. "What in Tartarus ...?"

"Crazy ..." the man groaned as he managed to roll himself over and limp his way back into the woods.

Xena was glad he had been able to lift himself. Gabrielle had attacked him so savagely.

"Stop," Xena whispered with concern when Gabrielle's squirming turned violent. She finally let Gabrielle down only to draw one of the hands up behind Gabrielle's back to disable the drastic movements.

Gabrielle dropped to her knee, panting. With one foot still firmly planted in the soil, she leant forward so that her free hand dug fingers into the earth. She breathed and breathed, unfeeling.

Xena panted with her, horribly concerned for Gabrielle. Had the smaller fighter lost her mind? Was it the threat she perceived? Was it the memories of Ephiny that surged through her?

"Gabrielle ... can you hear me?"

Steady breathing masked the turmoil Gabrielle still felt flowing through her. "... Yes."

"Do you remember who I am?"

Gabrielle mumbled laughter for one sharp moment. "I'm angry, not stupid."

Xena kept the hand in her hold, watching Gabrielle very closely. "I'm checking to see if you just had a break."

"A break ...?"

"You know. Lost your mind."

Gabrielle tried to loosen her hand, but Xena only pressed harder, giving her debilitating discomfort. "Gods! Okay! ... Okay. You're Xena. Xena, it's Xena-now-let-me-go."

"I'm gonna let you go."

"Good!" Gabrielle groaned, rubbing her wrist when it was given back as per Xena's word. She slowly looked over her shoulder, and then back down to her wrist. "I ... I don't know what happened."

"Yeah, well until we figure it out ... let's just say I keep your sword."

"You are NOT keeping my sword! What if I need it?"

"I think your hands worked just fine a moment ago."

Gabrielle looked down to her hands to see that they were battered from the aggressive and aimless hits. She couldn't recall her plan to go after the man, or to hurt him. She couldn't recall consciously deciding much of anything, and the pain was just rushing its way to her after the kick of her extreme adrenaline. "Aphrodite, this is bad ..."

Xena smiled to lend the darkness some light. "Don't go calling her now. She won't be ANY help. Trust me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Aphrodite. She's pretty useless in a fight. You could call on her for some help in the sex arena, though ..."

"I don't need any help," Gabrielle insisted, leaving Xena to wonder if the immediate response was toward help for her lapse in judgement or the aforementioned 'sex help.' Xena ignored the second option, but became somewhat curious as to Gabrielle's sexual prowess nonetheless.

"Well ... anyway-"

"We need to figure out what just happened."

Xena sighed, "Yeah ... guess I can't just use you as my own personal Little Fury ..."

At last, Gabrielle showed some sincere humor with an unlikely feminine smile: "No. You can't. And you can't call me that, either."

"Oh, I beg to differ."

Almost as if the terrible situation was forgotten, they leant some comfort to one another with the light conversation.

"It's kind of catchy. You're mighty but you're fierce. I don't know what else I could call you."

"How about my NAME?" Gabrielle scoffed, crossing her arms when she was brought back to the situation at hand: "Okay, well when you remember to care about this deadly thing inside of me, will you let me know?"

"Ooh - she's funny, too."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, and got to her feet to stride her way up toward Xena, standing with both hands on her hips - mirroring the woman she looked up to with confidence. "Why weren't you afraid of me just a moment ago? ... I lost control."

"You were trying to protect me. I knew you wouldn't try hurting me."

Gabrielle understood, but still had questions. "Well, you don't think I could ever hurt you anyway. Isn't that right?"

"It's not true," Xena gently answered, looking with gentle eyes down to the blond who stood confused with her own mind. "I would have been in trouble. Crazy people are the hardest to fight. They're very unpredictable. No fighter wants to fight you when you're the Little Fury."

"I'm not little," Gabrielle stated in a way so petulant all Xena could do was smile down at her. Gabrielle's accidental attitude could be such fun.

"No? ... Oh, I'm mistaken then." The humor of their very apparent height difference was not lost on Gabrielle.

For a dissolving moment, Gabrielle had the desire to be every bit as playful as her tall friend, but she passed on the instinct and kept to her pose.

The spark of playfulness in Gabrielle's eyes promised more to come, and although the moment was taken with the wind, Xena felt comforted. Gabrielle wouldn't betray her inner self much longer - pieces of her were certainly coming to light.

Gabrielle tried to forget the childish excitement she had had at the cause of Xena's teasing. She had never allowed herself to enjoy anything so playful and open, and she wasn't certain she could.

It was over a solitary meal she'd hunted for that evening when Gabrielle had some time to think to herself. She thought back to Ephiny's comment, deep in thought. She was told not to only be the mask, but the woman. Gabrielle wondered what exactly she had meant. The uncertainty made her feel lacking, which only further discouraged her self-exploration.

She brought another piece of meat to her lips - shocked when Xena had her arm in a firm grasp.

"Loosen up! Can you ... shake or something? Maybe do those stretches."

Gabrielle looked at her as if she were watching Xena skip around with flowers in her hair. The sight seemed as strange - Xena moving her arms around with a silly motion that gave her the appearance of some imbecile.

"What ... are you doing?" Gabrielle asked with one crooked brow.

"Haven't you ever just ... TOLD someone what's in your head? You know, offered the information voluntarily? Even once would count."

Gabrielle smirked quite by accident at the smart comment, and tugged her limb back when Xena reached for it again. "Mmm hmm."

"Okay, I know I don't always say things right. But it seems like something's really bothering you and I think it might be time to open up, Gabrielle."

The way the name rolled off Xena's tongue always caused a powerful reaction in Gabrielle, but the blond still stared down to her food. "I open up just fine ..."

Xena combed back her hair in her fingers, and smiled openly at the guarded blond: "I'm frustrated and a little angry that you pulled at my hair before. I was STILL frustrated and angry that you took it upon yourself to use our ONE towel until it was unusable for me. Now I'm YET AGAIN frustrated that you keep looking at me like my head isn't screwed on straight. See? I'm telling you how I feel."

If Gabrielle had taken to being offended by such observations, she might have taken the opportunity to scoff. Instead, she squinted at Xena and leaned forward and sighed. "Yes. You're frustrated with me."

Xena rolled her eyes and growled at the sky. "Gods, woman!"

"Xena ... I have spent most of my adult life protecting myself from taking things so personally."

The hands that had been tugging at the thick black hair dropped to Xena's sides at the honest communication. Was Gabrielle opening up to her?

"It's my fault I'm this way. I made it so."

When Gabrielle looked down to her hands, Xena's eyes widened.

"You know this, and you're keeping everything inside on PURPOSE?"

Gabrielle shrugged. "I don't know ... I ... don't know anymore. I can't say it's all in my control anymore."

"And here I thought you didn't know how ..."

"You underestimate me then. I know what feelings are ... I just don't know how to be in tune with myself after ... everything I've been through."

Xena sat down aside Gabrielle to ask her about it when Gabrielle put her hand out.

"I'm ... not ready. Okay?"

"Okay."

Gabrielle smiled at the strained expression on Xena's face when she finally found the strength to look. "You just came here for my food, didn't you?"

Xena laughed for a long string of musicality, and slapped her hand over Gabrielle's back. "Yeah ... you caught me. Hey, what did you catch anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Gabrielle smiled back, offering a piece to Xena to show that she could pull through when she needed to.

When Xena nudged her arm, Gabrielle nudged back and ruffled the blond hair that quickly fell over the right side of her face. Xena watched the covered portion offered to her.

The increasingly physical conversation she was having with Gabrielle told Xena that however much Gabrielle had changed since their recent travels together, it was a small change. Gabrielle needed so desperately to find a true friendship to ground herself with, and Xena immediately wanted to be that person. She found herself wondering how she might come out and explain her feelings to Gabrielle - honest no matter the consequences. She knew how sincerely Gabrielle admired honesty, but she was beginning to wonder if she could build up the strength to do so. Gabrielle was exceptional in a way Xena had never dreamed before. She was feisty, confident when she wanted to be, resistantly lovable, and hesitantly cute. It was a combination Xena found undeniably beautiful, in every sense of the word.

That night, as they both laid relatively near each other to sleep, Xena took the opportunity to watch Gabrielle.

Xena had never wanted to be anybody's metaphorical rock, but there resting across from Gabrielle - lying under the moon - she did.

Just as Gabrielle was having yet another troubled sleep, Xena fixed the issue with actions of her own. When she heard the breathing - thick and short with concern - she reached over and pulled Gabrielle neatly on top of her. The hold wasn't sexual, but comforting in the sense that she allowed the blond warrior to keep safe and warm in the arms of another just as strong and capable. She was allowing Gabrielle to relax and give in to rest.

At first, Gabrielle felt somewhat awkward given the closeness to another she'd never been so close with before, but she didn't move. She forced herself to relax so that Xena wouldn't know how upset she had been. She tensed for only as long as it took to remind herself to calm the muscles at the ready.

It was difficult to let another person take over her personal safety, but she understood what Xena was doing with the simple act. She appreciated it, too, but she wasn't sure if she could accept the protection from another without a romantic connection. What was her connection with Xena? She closed her eyes to the warm chest against her face, and she felt consoled. She recognized the feeling for what it was, surprised with the effect Xena's conversation must have had on her. Her eyes shot open when she realized she felt excited as well. Before she could realize feelings for Xena, she had realized her body's reactions. She closed her eyes just as quickly with shame at being excited by any other than Ephiny. She frowned and pushed all the voices aside as best she could, feeling a rough hand on the small of her back. It sent a warmth through her that muted all of the chaos. Thinking to Xena's simple well wishes for her, Gabrielle finally found rest with the new sense of safety.

Once she knew Gabrielle had drifted off, Xena stayed up most of the night. She wished she could sleep but remained confused with her feelings. Xena had never felt so close with another woman to pull the up on top of her unless she was trying to sleep with them, but it wasn't that way with Gabrielle. She wanted Gabrielle to be safe - to feel safe - and to be a person Gabrielle could lean on. Xena wanted so many things, and yet she felt she was denying them to herself as she laid there. Did she have feelings for Gabrielle? If so, she knew it was inappropriate timing, seeing as Ephiny had passed only a few months ago. Was it the pull of a sincere friendship?

Xena kept her breathing in a practiced pace as her mind took off in all directions. She kept her arm over Gabrielle's back as she thought to the fact that she felt as bonded to Gabrielle as she had to others she had known all her life. What did that mean? How did she really feel?

Xena tired herself to sleep with the questions that raced madly around her mind. She wandered in and out of Morpheus's realm until morning - worried, curious and very protective of the woman she had opted to care for.

The sun was rising when Gabrielle shifted on top of Xena - partially aside her and partially lying over her.

Gabrielle yawned and came to realize how well she had slept, extricating her arm and leg when the motionless dark-haired woman spoke: "Eager to escape?"

Gabrielle sat up tiredly on her knees with a little smile that drooped as she fully opened her eyes. "No ... It's time to get up."

Xena heard a hint of symbolism in the phrase, and was proud that Gabrielle looked to show the beginnings of a woman building herself up from the ground.

"Thanks ... for the sleep ..." Gabrielle sheepishly afforded, getting to her feet. "It's the first time in quite a while that I slept the whole night through like that ..."

The process of Gabrielle's stretching and first movements drew attention from the dark-haired warrior. She saw remnants of the vulnerable woman inside of Gabrielle, and the very idea woke Xena's senses. The Warrior Princess stretched in her own less flexible way, and did something she was not known to do - she lied for the sake of another person.

"Uh ... me too."


	10. Chapter 10

Xena and Gabrielle had become much more comfortable around one another in their time together. It came to be that a sort of powerful friendship bonded between them in the spaces of their self-doubt and caution. Within the uncertainty of their feelings toward one another, they pushed it all aside to comfortably coexist. It went without saying that if things became overly complicated that Gabrielle would pull herself away.

As it turned out, words weren't always necessary anyway. Gabrielle's nods became a token of appreciation toward the darker warrior, and Xena's smirks became a sassy appreciation of her own.

Over the weeks, Xena would toss Gabrielle a smile among the crowd for Gabrielle's selfless acts of charity. Gabrielle, in her turn, would send a very subtle nod over to Xena at the warrior's tendency to be kind to children along their way.

There was a silent understanding that kept Xena silencing her attractions to Gabrielle. There was a bond much stronger than the way Xena wanted to hold Gabrielle. Even the thought of kissing the blond warrior could be forgotten with an elaborate tale from the budding bard at her side.

There were strong feelings that cooled with Xena's need to be around the strange and wonderful warrior keeping her company. Even in the dull or empty moments next to Gabrielle on cold nights, the soft blond hair brought a smile to Xena in more ways than one. Gabrielle was comforting. Her presence was settling, and the very sight of her grounded Xena and righted injustices of the past. The fact that Gabrielle's existence could change so much for her had Xena struggling at night with the immensity of her bond with Gabrielle. Each day, it grew. She worried one day how strongly she might feel for Gabrielle - regardless of the category of affection. If anyone were to threaten Gabrielle's safety, Xena wondered how she might react. Gabrielle - being the strong and independent woman she was - was not the type of damsel to find herself in distress. In fact, she was no damsel at all. Instead, Gabrielle was a hero.

Gabrielle laid those nights with thoughts of her own. She and Xena had travelled around small villages with a lot of weight to their conversations along with whatever crude but infectious humor Xena contributed. The tall, observant woman had grown so effectively on Gabrielle that she felt bonded with Xena on a level she had never felt before. Whatever the basis of her companionship with Xena, Gabrielle knew that what she felt for Xena was very different than any other bond she had known. There were moments where she admired Xena for the attractive woman she was, but Gabrielle never leered. There were even moments when Gabrielle wondered if she had ever had so close a friend, but she didn't talk about her feelings. Either way, she could feel that being so close with Xena was changing her. It was changing them both.

There were things Gabrielle began to understand about herself the more she spoke with Xena. Questions also came to light; the more she heard about Ares, the more Gabrielle wondered what kind of a role he had played in Xena's life.

Knowing the distaste Xena seemed to feel for Ares, Gabrielle hadn't brought it up before, but one evening as they were sitting in an enjoyable silence together, she did.

Gabrielle was thinking about the bonds that had formed between them in the past few days, and smiled fondly at the way Xena had watched her aid a young's man's journey back to his family. Gabrielle had set his leg properly, and glanced back to Xena to see the curious interest in those impossibly blue eyes. They had spoken on their way to camp of healing practices, and Gabrielle smiled all over again when she remembered Xena's hand at the back of her neck - comforting her and expressing their closeness.

Xena leaned forward on the log to inspect her sword for nicks when Gabrielle laid onto her back as if to symbolize her harmless intent. Gabrielle looked up to the darkening sky with fingers interlocked over her abdomen, and asked with humbled patience: "... How do you know Ares?"

Eyes sliced through the space between them, but when Xena noted Gabrielle's body language, she dropped her eyes again. "You've never asked about him before."

"That's right," Gabrielle smiled.

Xena smiled down at her sword, but it disappeared just as quickly. "If you really wanna know ... he met with me when I was young and determined to fight." Xena tossed another less threatening glance over to Gabrielle to ensure the woman was still looking up to the sky. "He liked my attitude, I think."

"He wanted you to be Goddess alongside him?" Gabrielle asked carefully, always having wondered where Xena had come across the immaculate strength she had. As they spoke, she was beginning to put things together.

"He traded me-" But then Xena stopped, and dropped her sword to the ground at the accidental share. She picked it back up and cleared her throat. "Enough stories for today."

"Xena-"

"I'm tired, Gabrielle," Xena finished with such power behind her tone that Gabrielle simply stared at her retreating figure.

Gabrielle watched Xena step away, and waited for her return. They each needed their space at times, and neither pushed to keep close.

When Xena finally made her way back, Gabrielle was lying on Xena's bedroll. It was a habit Gabrielle had come upon as Xena's was much warmer and thicker, and the fur Xena used to cover herself were comforting to Gabrielle. She also quite enjoyed the feigned annoyance Xena showed upon being so inconvenienced. It was a simple and satisfying game they shared they would never have shared with company.

"So. You're not getting up until I talk, hey?" Xena estimated, resting her hands on her hips with the comforting sight before her. Gabrielle could be so unpredictable at times. Xena observed the unmoving body under her furs, and rolled her eyes just like Gabrielle was wont to do.

"Xena ... I just want to know," Gabrielle sighed, slowly sitting with the fur still up around her chest when Xena admired the precious care of her companion. Given that simple inquisitive look from her friend, there wasn't much Xena could deny to Gabrielle. Understanding defeat had sunken in, Xena exhaled and sat across from the sleepy blond.

"I don't like to share these things." But even as Xena spoke, she realized how similar her choices were to Gabrielle's - shutting herself off from others. No other time had Xena found such a connection to another, feeling what her companion felt before thinking. She dropped her head. "I mean ... Gabrielle, things are so ..."

Gabrielle was looking at her when Xena picked her eyes up to the patient blond. In darker light, Gabrielle's hair seemed to have a sort of honey tone that complimented the green of her eyes. Xena blinked, and then looked to her again.

"Gabrielle ... I'll try to tell you. But if I tell you ... I want you to tell me about your past, too."

"Are you bargaining with me?" Gabrielle smiled in a peculiarly soft way.

Xena wrung her hands together: "Yeah ... I guess." She trusted Gabrielle, but she needed something in return. She needed to understand Gabrielle's past vulnerabilities to admit her own. As strong and sure as she seemed to be, she had her own weakness and self-consciousness.

"You don't want to hear about that. No one cares about my family," Gabrielle admitted all at once, pushing the subject from her mind.

Xena tried again, getting to her feet. "Gabrielle-"

"No. Everyone knows they were bad to me, and Ephiny always understood that."

Xena stopped just two feet from where Gabrielle sat, halted. She couldn't combat the words of a dead woman, but she knew Gabrielle needed to hear what she would say, so she said it regardless of her own hesitance. "Gabrielle ... family means the world to you."

Gabrielle scoffed openly: "Excuse me?"

"From what I've seen of you ... I see that you hold this subject away from yourself. Why do you think you do that?"

"I'm not talking about my family right now," Gabrielle insisted - as rational as ever, she convinced herself. She stood on unsteady feet, and willed them to be strong.

Xena stayed strong, appearing emotionless although her emotions were threatening to get the best of her. Anger, sadness, sympathy, and fear were all mounting inside of her as she expelled an even breath with cold, trained eyes.

"Gabrielle ... I know it upsets you, but-"

"No! ... No, I'm not talking about them. I'm not talking about anything."

"Just tell me why you ran away. Tell me-"

"No! I can't! They don't even love me!"

"I know they do!"

"You don't know anything!" Gabrielle growled, panting with anger and sorrow. Her eyes were swimming with the emotions of her heart for once in a very long time. Somehow, the conversation had burrowed its way into her heart. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

Xena's stiff form relaxed when her eyes retreated to the ground. She couldn't seem to stand that look from Gabrielle - even for a moment. She closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle."

When Gabrielle pivoted on her right foot and took off into darkness, Xena lowered herself to her knees, and cried silently into her hand. She and Gabrielle had so much to sort through, and neither seemed entirely capable of doing so. From what Xena knew about being tender with another, she did the best she could, but even she had bouts of insensitivity along their journeys which Gabrielle always handled much better than their conversations of the past.

Could it really be possible to sort through any of it together? Xena doubted her abilities, even being as experienced with hardships as she was. She could get into the mind of any enemy, but with Gabrielle, everything was different. She didn't know how to help her painful memories.

The emotion Gabrielle had showed to her was more than Xena could take. The sadness and anger she had pulled from the smaller fighter had Xena hurting, too. All she wanted to do was console Gabrielle, but she didn't know how. A woman in Gabrielle's still-troubled state didn't want to be held. A woman insisting to do everything for herself was insecure, keeping herself at a distance from others. At times, Gabrielle reminded Xena of herself.

When Gabrielle had given herself a sufficient amount of space from her travelling companion, she reached a tall tree that her hands immediately touched. Her palms ran up the coarse bark until she found a pocket to pull herself up with, reaching a larger gap that had housed a small animal at one point in time. She tightened her hold, and pulled while her feet expertly braced against the bark - toes and the balls of her feet taking the brunt of the harsher textures.

Before long, Gabrielle had found a large branch to grab onto, wrestling herself up onto it before reaching for the next, and the next after that. She sat up on the highest branch that would support her, looking out to the pale moon in the sky. She let one foot dangle off the branch as she stared out away from the thinning trunk at her back. She took in the cool air that swirled more freely among the tops of the trees and closed her eyes.

Gabrielle thought to Ephiny, and their talks - long before they were lovers - about her parents. Ephiny had understood so long ago that Gabrielle was estranged from her parents. Ephiny had been estranged from her own parents. It was never something that was pushed, and Gabrielle sat up in that tree wondering why the subject had affected her so terribly. She knew Xena hadn't meant any harm. Xena had no idea how it would affect her - with cold eyes that had been staring toward her, Gabrielle figured Xena had no idea the trauma that could accompany a bloodline. Gabrielle wondered how she could possibly explain her past to Xena, seeing for once in a long time that such upsetting items should be confronted. She breathed and simply thought about her pain while admiring the dark blue of the nothingness above her.

It took about another hour for Gabrielle to sit, think, and then climb down from the tree to find her way back at the camp site she had set up earlier with Xena.

The sight Gabrielle was met with upon her return had her waiting among the bushes to watch. There before her sat Xena by a slow-burning fire, wiping a tear off her cheek. Gabrielle frowned at the image of Xena so distraught about another's pain. Was that another part of her emotional upset? Gabrielle waited in silence while Xena roughly wiped a hand over her face and blinked all of the sadness away, leaving Gabrielle to wonder if Xena had done it often in moments alone. Gabrielle had never guessed Xena was a woman with such honest emotion.

Humor had always seemed a defense for the strong and mighty Xena. Suddenly, it seemed to be more. The humor was a companion for the woman who had never had any trusted company before. Gabrielle watched the open struggle on Xena's face before she noticed her own reaction to the display. Her eyes were filling with tears, too.

Having worked very diligently to keep herself from revealing any emotion she felt, Gabrielle was shaken that it had come rushing back so quickly. She blinked it all away in denial, but her emotional states had swarmed her for that moment. Her old state of mind had taken her over quite unpredictably. At that, Gabrielle stepped her way out of hiding, and stood facing Xena.

"I'm sorry ... I was watching you."

Xena turned to her, and tried her best at a smile. "I know."

"Xena ... I'm sorry I took off. It's just that making things right with my family ... it wouldn't be easy."

"Easier than if they're dead," Xena muttered, stilling her expression as she focused her eyes on the embers of the fire.

Attributing the strange comment to Xena's dark sense of humor, Gabrielle took another step closer: "I hope you're not threatening me?"

Xena's frown deepened, not daring to look up at her friend: "It's easier to fix things while they're still alive."

Gabrielle's taunting was cut short when she realized Xena was speaking from experience. She dropped to one knee, and rested her hand over Xena's back. "Your family ...?"

"They're all dead ... So, I DO know, Gabrielle."

Instead of questioning Xena about the details, Gabrielle instinctively got to her knees beside Xena, and held her. It was an instinct so basic that Gabrielle didn't doubt her tender approach. She put her arms around Xena's shoulders, pulling the larger warrior close to comfort racing thoughts. "I'm here," Gabrielle whispered, holding her. "You're okay."

Xena had never felt so comforted. Through those simple words and Gabrielle's tight embrace, Xena allowed herself to feel the sadness she often buried away.

Eventually, as the fire flickered down, Xena pulled herself up to sit again. She looked over to Gabrielle who was her support in every sense. That a woman so petite could support her so fully amused Xena. A subtle smile found its way behind her eyes.

Gabrielle easily caught it, returning the sentiment with her own parts of enthusiasm: "And what is that for?"

"You're just different, that's all."

"Than who?"

Everyone.

With all Xena couldn't say aloud, she sighed and smiled fully with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know, Gabrielle ..."

They each sat upright, turned to each other in the dark, cold evening's air.

"I'm sorry I took off," Gabrielle said, watching the rise and fall of Xena's lashes as eyes roamed around the comfortable site they had found. "Xena?"

"I'll never be able to compete with Ephiny ... She was your greatest ally and now all you've got is me."

Gabrielle felt the statement weigh heavily on her chest. She hated that she had thrown Ephiny's words at Xena, but it was something that had been on her mind. "I'm sorry about that too ... you're both very different ... well, were ... are ..."

"I don't know what happened with Ephiny's parents, but Gabrielle - I won't ever let this go. I don't know who your parents are, but if you don't make it right ... before you know it, they'll pass ... and you'll be left with an empty piece of your heart."

It felt as if they were moving closer, but neither moved an inch. Gabrielle laid back and gazed up at the speckled sky. "Sometimes ... I feel like that's all I have."

"An empty heart?" Xena asked, curiously leaning on one elbow as she adjusted her hips to lay on her side. The black hair draped over her arm, and her bangs tickled her eyes.

"Yeah ... I feel old."

Xena was taken aback with the open honesty accompanied by what looked to be raw emotion. Gabrielle was vulnerable there before her - lips relaxed instead of their usual, tight state.

"Gabrielle ... if I came with you ... would you visit them again?"

A heavy sigh dragged its way through the air. "Xena ... I don't feel like they want me ... some nights, I wish I had never breathed at all."

"This world is a better place with you in it, Gabrielle."

Sharp eyes cut to Xena who remained confidently in place. Her pose and her tone told Gabrielle she was interested in her past. Her eyes were so gentle in their approach that they softened Gabrielle's haunted gaze.

"I was supposed to be married off. Did I ever tell you that?"

It was obvious she never had, but Xena just shook her head. Gabrielle had always had a knack for storytelling.

Gabrielle was staring up at the sky as she spoke: "Perdicus ... he was a nice boy, but I didn't want to be with him."

Xena wanted to lie on her stomach for comfort, but she kept very still so as not to scare Gabrielle's openness away.

"I had always known I liked girls," Gabrielle said, letting her thoughts out with each comment to the dark warrior off to her side. "I always knew that ... did you always know that?"

Xena smiled: "I always was a little curious ... but I wasn't with a woman until I was a woman myself. How about you?"

"I knew I didn't want to be with any boys since I was a little girl," Gabrielle smiled at last, certainly thinking to some embarrassing story from her childhood that she didn't choose to share. "I always knew it ... I even told my parents, but they told me I was wrong, and that things would change. I needed to marry. I needed to marry and have a child. That was what they told me."

Xena had been brought up in the same way. She understood.

"There was this one girl ..." Gabrielle grinned shamefully. She brought her arm up to cover her lips. "She was ..."

"What was her name?" Xena asked lovingly, admiring Gabrielle's younger interests.

"Oh what was it? ... Elga." For a long moment, Gabrielle let those feelings of first love flow through her, blessing her with a radiant glow that simmered and faded as they laid out in the open night air. "Gods, you must think I'm so foolish."

"Not at all." Xena was fascinated.

Gabrielle rolled her head toward Xena, and then back up at the sky. "Well ... I loved her."

"I can see that," Xena agreed with a tender affection she couldn't disguise.

Gabrielle was too lost in the memories of her past to notice.

"I loved her, but no matter what I said, I couldn't be with her. I had to be quiet about any of my feelings for women, but when I was promised to Perdicus, I couldn't be quiet any longer ... I told my mother that I would never marry a man, and she told my father who sped up the arrangements to teach me to speak my mind, I'm sure."

Xena cringed, but listened silently as Gabrielle continued.

"It was such hell - imagining a life with a man. I didn't want to be with a man. It would have been like forcing my father to marry another man - he wasn't interested in men. It just ... it was Tartarus. I thought about what I could do, and there only seemed to be one thing I could do. Run."

"And you did?"

"I snuck out, but I was spotted by others who knew my situation, as we were a small village ... and thank the gods I had trained myself to run, or I wouldn't be here today to tell you all this ..."

"What do you mean?"

Gabrielle smiled at Xena's child-like curiosities. She smiled, she frowned, and she spoke to the icy blue eyes connecting with hers.

"I was worried I might be seen, and even after I was, I wasted no time. I held the front of my dress clutched in my hands, and I ran. Others saw me, called out to more, and before I knew it, there were some of the young men chasing behind me. I knew they would hurt me - kill me probably - if they caught me. I was running for my life with one foot planted in front of the other, even among all the tall grass. One trip, and I would be beaten. One misstep and I would be as good as dead. My heart was pounding in my ears ... that sound that reminds you you're still alive - barely so."

Xena held her breath as she listened with rapt fascination, imagining a much younger Gabrielle with long hair and a long dress - flying through a grassy field as the wind whipped through her hair. The vision appeared to Xena in a slower motion than would be humanly possible - her mind slowing the image so she could take in the dramatic effect of the situation. She thought of the vision and the meaning of the story as Gabrielle went on.

"I ran and ran, and eventually we reached the forest just beyond the fields. They were calling out to me, but they couldn't catch me. They chased me with a taunting confidence, but I knew those woods. After helping my mother with the chores, I would slip off to the woods to learn them - to run through them - and it paid off when they chased me right into the thick of the woods."

"Gods - were you hurt?"

"I was scratched, but it was nothing compared to what might have happened to me if I was caught ... I ran like I had never run before. I knew exactly where I was running, and I had memorized parts of those trees ... I ran and ran even after most of the boys had slowed. I kept on going even with pieces of my dress torn and my face all scratched up on the left. I guess I shielded my right, but forgot about the left ... I wasn't thinking. The only thing that was on my mind was to escape. I just wanted to get away."

"And you did ...?" Xena ventured, uncomfortable imagining what might have happened to Gabrielle had they caught up with her.

"Well, some of the boys knew those woods, too ... but for the most part, I was safe. There was one very scary thing I did, though."

"What was it?!" Xena whispered, on her stomach just an arm's length away from her companion. She was so intrigued with the story Gabrielle turned onto her side to watch the many expressive reactions staring back at her.

"I jumped off the riverbank."

"WHAT?!" Xena squealed, covering her mouth when she realized the uncharacteristic noise. "I mean ... Gabrielle! ... You can't swim!"

"Exactly," Gabrielle grinned, for once enjoying pieces of her story through another's eyes. It made her feel brave and fearless when all she had felt at the time was fear and shame. "I couldn't swim, but I also knew those boys couldn't swim."

"Well what in Tartarus happened?" Xena scoffed, shoving Gabrielle's shoulder when all that met her question was a knowing smile. "Gabrielle! What happened?"

"I leapt in, and I just nearly drowned."

"Do I have to ask? Come on - how? How didn't you drown in some big dress with the current pulling you under?"

"I frantically tried clawing my way to the surface of the water as it pulled me along - it was the worst experience of my life. It ripped me across rocks and logs that were too small to hold onto. I'm sure the boys were laughing to themselves, thinking I would die for sure, but when I finally hit onto a boulder, and managed to hold on for dear life - no one was around. I had floated away from sight."

Xena let out a very large and very exhausted sigh.

"Yeah ... I was glad, too. I coughed up the water, vomited, and nearly froze. If it weren't for the sun warming my hands, I don't know that I could have held on for as long as I did."

"Did you swim to shore?"

"No ... a very nice man and his son found me. They terrified me at first, but then I could see this sort of kindness in their eyes, and my body gave in. The older man - the father - expertly managed the current from just up the river, and tied a long rope around the boulder. His teenaged son had it hitched to their wagon as he steadied it himself, and the father helped me across the rope to the shore."

"Gods - they saved your life! ... Gabrielle, I wish I had been there."

"I was such a mess, Xena ... I was shivering, terrified, and bleeding all over the place ... The father saw that I was going blue, and ripped the corset off of me to help remove the thick material of the outer dress only to cover me with a coat from his wagon. The way he covered me and ran his hands over my arms ... I cried like a baby, Xena ..."

Xena watched as Gabrielle's eyes filled with tears at the memory, and she slid over to try holding a woman who didn't want to be comforted just then.

"Not yet ... just ... I want to finish."

"So what happened? They brought you back with them?"

"No ... but gods, that man was like the father I never had. He didn't seem concerned with why anyone had chased me off like they did. He only cared that I was suffering ... it was the most beautiful thing I could have imagined."

"Gabrielle, I'm so sorry ..."

"When the color was finally coming back to me, they offered to bring me back with them, but I graciously declined. I told them I was going to find a friend, even though that was a lie. I just wanted to find my own way ... I knew I needed to be on my own."

"Weren't you scared?"

"Terrified. But after all I had been through ... I needed to. And when I stumbled across Amazons, I felt so comfortable that I begged to go with them."

"Gods, Gabrielle ... that's ... quite a story."

"I know. When you talk about my parents, Xena ... who thinks so little of their child? I just can't imagine what I might ever say to them."

"But you care what happens to them. You did everything you could to save your father from the unforgiving sea."

"Sometimes actions are meaningless."

"And sometimes it's all we have."

Xena and Gabrielle locked eyes, and then quite unpredictably, Gabrielle rolled closer to tuck herself into Xena's arms. She cuddled so close that Xena wasn't sure which action to take herself.

"I'm glad I could share that with you, Xena ..." There was uncertainty in her voice along with the comfort and release of sharing a troubled past.

"Me too, Gabrielle."

"And ... maybe soon you'll share what Ares means to you?"

Xena's slanted smirk touched the top of Gabrielle's head. "Whatever you wish, Gabrielle."

The night seemed calm and easy as Gabrielle rested her face on the leather covering Xena's breast. The two had never been so intimately close, but in that moment it was comforting above all else. Gabrielle was able to close her eyes at the feel of Xena's arm over her back, releasing the tension of her tale to the piqued interest of another. No matter what she shared with Xena, she had support. No matter where she had faltered, Xena showed care and affection. Gabrielle closed her eyes to the realization that she felt the same way for Xena in return.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ares traded me something," Xena sighed at last, giving Gabrielle's back a shove as the blond had teased her endlessly about keeping something in all morning.

One full day had passed since Gabrielle's story of her past, and the capacity for Gabrielle to share had been on Xena's mind ever since. She wanted to share, too.

The moment Gabrielle heard the sincerity of Xena's thoughts, Gabrielle turned and stared: "Ares?"

"Yeah, I don't have some big story like you tell, but ... let's just say my brother didn't pass from disease."

Gabrielle had been eating from a small loaf of bread that fell to the ground when she heard Xena's confession. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother, Xena ... that's awful. How young was he?"

Xena stopped on her tired callused feet in order to answer the question: "Four."

"Gods! Four?! ... Xena ... What happened?"

"He was killed," Xena replied glumly, having had a substantial amount of time to deal with that reality. She tossed a look down to Gabrielles bread loaf, and furrowed her brows. "Gabrielle ... please tell me you tossed the loaf you traded earlier."

"Xena ... your brother! Gods, I didn't know."

"It's okay, Gabrielle. I know you had no idea. I've been dealing with it for a long time now, and I'd like to tell you about him, but ... you DID pitch that loaf like I asked you to, right? This is a different loaf ...?"

"What is your obsession with a loaf of bread?" Gabrielle teased, bending to pick up the portion that was left to dust it off. "I don't do everything you say, you know."

Before Gabrielle could bring the bread to her mouth, Xena grabbed her wrist, and crooked an eyebrow to look at her - a look that quickly turned from glare to smirk.

"Gabrielle ... let go."

"You first," Gabrielle smirked back, jokingly.

"Look, as much as I'd like to see you a little looser around the edges, with the amount you've already eaten, any more and you might be really sick."

Gabrielle grew serious as she glanced back to the bread. "What are you talking about?"

"Henbane."

"Henbane like ... crazy henbane? ... Oh gods ..."

"The one and only," Xena chuckled, watching Gabrielle throw the bread off the path to slap her face from both sides.

"Oh gods! I've done henbane before by accident at a gathering when I was younger ... oh gods, Xena ... I really lose it ..."

Xena couldn't help but smile - her mind taken completely from the sorrow she'd felt only moments ago. She crossed her arms and watched the sight before her.

"Tie me up! Please - I'm begging you. You have no idea what I'll do - I won't even have any idea what I'll do!"

"This is more talkative than I've ever seen you already," Xena laughed infectiously, pulling a very real smile from her smaller companion.

"Yeah, I can see you're entertained, but I seriously need your help. I am a lunatic on this stuff, and I've never had this much. Please ..." Gabrielle started, pulled back by the strap of her top to feel a very strong hand around her arm. It was a hold of protective affection, and Gabrielle stilled to the feeling of Xena's knuckles under the thick strap of her suede top.

"I'll take care of you," Xena said earnestly, gathering all of her attention. "I promise."

With that promise came some very nervous pacing and promises of an eventful evening as Xena rolled her eyes and assured Gabrielle she was over-exaggerating.

It wasn't until Xena had to chase after Gabrielle just an hour later in the hot afternoon sun that Xena began to realize that Gabrielle might not have over-exaggerated after all.

First was a frantic leaping run that had Gabrielle rolling down a hill just in view of a busy city. Next was a stumbled, dizzy hop into a shop where Xena lost sight of Gabrielle only for a moment or two.

Once Xena caught up with Gabrielle, she couldn't hold back an amused grin with the conversation she overheard. Xena was able to catch her breath as she listened on from a few paces back.

"It's like you know ... what I'm talking about," Gabrielle whispered, eyes squinted as she stared at a bottle of salve for wounds.

The healer arched a very wrinkled brow, and limped his way over to the young woman making a scene in his shop. "Do you have the dinars for that?"

"Don't worry - she doesn't need it," Xena interrupted, stepping aside Gabrielle to see big green eyes staring up at her.

"Ooh ... it's you ..."

Xena glanced between the healer and Gabrielle a few times before slipping the bottle from Gabrielle's unsteady hands to set it back onto the counter. "Yeah, it's me alright. Now it's time to go back up the hill. Back to the horses. Do you think you can manage that?"

Gabrielle went to spin away from her, but Xena quickly caught her arm, laughing at the effort.

"Gabrielle ... I can't have you running away from me all day. Just tell me where you wanna go, and I'll take you there."

While Xena hadn't meant it to sound like such an open invitation, a blush crept into her cheeks with the smile that lighted Gabrielle's face. There was a strangely innocent expression looking up at Xena with a very certain hint of sensuality.

"... Anywhere?"

Xena was completely silenced as she read into Gabrielle's eyes. Her lips were hot with opportunity, but no words could escape.

While Xena was frozen with the shock of the moment, Gabrielle's mind had moved onto the next idea - she wanted to sail a ship on the grass just past all the fuzzy tree clouds.

Gabrielle was off before Xena had the time to blink and chase after her.

It took the entire afternoon for Gabrielle's mentality to calm somewhat, but when it finally did, Xena established her exhaustion. She sighed as Gabrielle's exhaustion caught up with her, too - stumbling back and tripping over her own two feet to stare up at the tall, dark beauty standing there before her.

Off the side of the path, Gabrielle sat leaning back on her hands with a look of awe in her eyes and a piercing smile on her lips: "You ... are ... beautiful!"

"Uh huh ..." Xena mumbled awkwardly, unsure of how to handle the confession. "And you ... are drugged."

She helped Gabrielle back to her feet, chuckling when Gabrielle fell onto her due to the imbalanced nature of her state.

"I should not ... be doing this ..." Gabrielle slurred, putting her hands quite obviously on the straps of Xena's leather attire to feel the skin aside the material. As much as Gabrielle wanted her hands to wander, something inside of her kept them rather still and respectful.

"Doing what exactly?" Xena asked, using every sliver of willpower to keep from smiling outright at the sensation of those wonderfully thick fingers touching her collarbone. It was a piece of her own body that Xena had always felt was rather feminine, and there Gabrielle stood - stroking it in her inebriated state.

Gabrielle slid down to the ground with fatigue where she dropped quite accidentally between Xena's legs. Xena laughed and moved herself to see that Gabrielle had gone unconscious, joking only to herself: "Not exactly what I thought you'd do ..."

Xena rolled Gabrielle onto her back and lifted the lids of her companion's eyes to check her vital signs as she listened to her breathing and concluded that Gabrielle's body had simply succumb to the exhaustion of the day.

Keeping true to her word, Xena lifted Gabrielle and walked her to the nearest blacksmith where she sat the tired blond against a post while she had her breastplate re-touched. It was a fantastically unnatural sight to see Gabrielle making such a fool of herself, but it was certainly refreshing. Most often, Gabrielle was wound so tightly that Xena wondered how Gabrielle moved without combusting. Even with all of the chasing she did after Gabrielle, the day was worthwhile to see the woman so carefree and imaginative in all of her lovely chaos. Moments had been sewn together that Xena would never forget. She smirked as she thought back to Gabrielle's squirming around in her sea of grass. That image had a powerful draw.

"Just this part?" the blacksmith asked, not bothering to ask why Xena had plunked an unconscious woman there to wait with her. "That's all you need?"

"That's it," Xena smiled with hands on her hips.

With an hour or so to pass, Xena turned back to her travelling companion, and beamed anew. She admired the mess of Gabrielle's hair and the languid movements of her chest with each inhale. The soft chest gleamed with the moisture of her fatigue - a sheet of sweat covering Gabrielle from head-to-toe that only accentuated her attractive assets. Xena found herself staring so obviously a passing customer stood at her side and enjoyed the same view.

When Xena noticed the onlooker at her side, she scowled at him. When that didn't work, she shoved him.

"What? Is she yours?!" he barked aggressively, leaving Xena with fists on her hips and attitude to spare.

"As a matter of fact ... yes."

"She doesn't belong to you," the man laughed, standing up tall to impress upon Xena that he held a few inches of height advantage.

At that empty threat, Xena confronted the man face-to-face - unaware that Gabrielle had woken at the sound of the man's irritating laughter.

Xena stared at the man for one long second, and then stabbed her fingers into his neck to watch him drop to her knees. Crouching next to him, Xena spoke loudly enough so she wouldn't have to repeat herself: "She belong to me alright. And you know, the last guy to try and take what's mine ...? His head is still bobbing down a river somewhere. So you wanna beat it, or should I leave you here to die?"

Gabrielle still felt that her head was swimming - she felt drunk - but knew what she'd heard. She also knew Xena was a woman with a dark past, but she had spent enough time with her to know she was making that up. Gabrielle smiled at the thought that Xena would go so far out of her way to protect a friend. More than a friend, Gabrielle echoed to herself.

Just as Gabrielle was trying to focus on the scene before her again, Xena jabbed her fingers into the man's neck again, and he stumbled away in a hurry. Just as hurriedly, Gabrielle shut her eyes again. She focused on rested breathing, and keeping her body still.

"You keep staring at her like that, and you'll have all the men for miles giving you trouble," the blacksmith yelled out.

At that, Gabrielle couldn't help but smirk, finally venturing to open her eyes to see Xena grinning back down at her.

"I knew you were listening," Xena sang tenderly, offering a hand down to Gabrielle to have the woman bashfully accept.

"Didn't mean to listen in ..."

"Are you wondering who I think I am that I'm claiming I own you, or are you happy I protected you while you were out?"

"Can it be both?" Gabrielle grinned, accidentally giving away her inebriation with the tells of her body.

"Happy wonderment?" Xena teased, waving off to the blacksmith as she put her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders from behind and started her toward a place to eat. "Happily wonder all you like."

Xena felt herself happily wondering how she could be so lucky as to have a bond with a woman like Gabrielle. The smaller shoulders that warmed to her touch gave Xena a warmth of her own she could neither deny nor ignore. Seeing as her hands enjoyed their position, she didn't attempt to remove them, either.

"You know, I CAN walk," Gabrielle chuckled, referencing the way Xena guided her around by her shoulders. However, at the loosening pressure on her shoulders, Gabrielle was quick to amend the teasing: "Not that I know where we're going ..."

"There's a little place up ahead," Xena whispered, having tugged Gabrielle's back to her chest in the mischievous way she had done before - guiding her.

"I ... I hate it when you do that," Gabrielle whispered back, holding her breath so as not to moan.

Of course, Xena knew why she hated it - Gabrielle's most vulnerable spot was her neck. When Xena whispered down onto it, Gabrielle went weak. It had happened by absolute accident one morning, and ever since then, Xena found herself playing on that piece of knowledge at the most unusual moments.

It took Xena a moment to wipe the grin off her face, and to give Gabrielle a good push away from her.

"Sorry ... my mistake."

Once they had reached the place and pushed inside, Gabrielle was hesitant to find a table. She turned back to Xena with sincere worry in her eyes: "I ... I have the urge to make a complete fool of myself ... We need to leave."

"What's your urge? Skip around while singing Solstice songs?" Xena smiled, folding her arms to ascertain the degree of sincerity in Gabrielle's eyes.

"No - like ... dance. In front of all these people. My head is spinning. Just get me outta here."

Xena wasted no time in ushering Gabrielle out of the establishment to walk aside her friend back toward where their horses were awaiting their return. She glanced over at Gabrielle who was having trouble walking, and felt safer given their distance from the crowds. When they had reached their horses, Xena and Gabrielle let their exhaustion find them comfortable patches of grass to rest on, just at the top of the hill.

"Hey Gabrielle ...? What gives you an urge to dance?"

Gabrielle felt a looseness flush through her as she lowered herself to the ground - only to try and exhale it away. "Nothing ... I don't know ... I really love to dance ... and this drug ... has very strange effects ..."

"Look, you know I won't hurt you. I just wanna know because ... I care about you, Gabrielle. I care, and I wonder about you," Xena shared, eyes smiling brightly in the otherwise faded light of the day. "Will you tell me?"

Xena's care and curiosity about Gabrielle had found a quiet place between them, where it was welcome and appreciated.

"I'm a good dancer," Gabrielle admitted at last with a wide and knowing smile. "And I am NOT saying it to tease you."

Neither woman addressed what that implied.

Gabrielle carried on: "But I'm good ... I think I have a good rhythm ... you know?"

"I do," Xena whispered, looking out to the well-crafted buildings just off from the sloping hill where they sat. She took a deep breath in, listening as Gabrielle offered her self-aware confessions.

"I'm flexible and passionate about movement and ... well, some women just like to be admired, I guess."

Xena's lips tightened into a smirk, not daring to meet Gabrielle's eyes. "And I take it ... you're one of those women."

"Unfortunately," Gabrielle chuckled to herself, relaxing as the henbane coursed through her less vigorously but with so astounding an effect that Gabrielle desired to roll over on top of Xena to SHOW her just what she meant. She shook her head at that notion, and the sharp shivers it gave her.

"Hungry?" Xena asked softly, slapping her hand on Gabrielle's back to signify nothing had changed between them. There were no complications, but the bond remained.

"Xena? ... I know I'm still a little ... off. But will you tell me about your brother?"

When Xena saw the usual sincerity behind Gabrielle's eyes, she dropped her eyes and sat up with curling shoulders. "I don't like talking about it ..."

"You said something about Ares," Gabrielle asked just as quietly as Xena had asked her questions many times before. "Did he ... have something to do with-"

"No. No, he didn't. He made me an offer. He ... loves me."

Gabrielle's heart sank as she thought to Xena's words.

When Xena turned her head to her friend's silence, her heart raced. Could Gabrielle be jealous from mistaken understanding? Could Gabrielle feel just as strongly for her?

"Do you still love him? ..."

Xena studied Gabrielle for a long moment before deciding to answer with perfect honesty: "I don't love him. Not anymore."

Gabrielle lifted her head to see Xena had been watching her. "... But you did once?

"Yeah. When I was young and foolish. And horrible."

Gabrielle looked down again as Xena continued explaining, reminded of Xena's tale-worthy dark past.

"When I was still some nobody, grieving over my brother and praying for revenge ... Ares came to me, and made me a trade. It was my soul for all of the attributes I have now ... the god-like strength ... to storm through my enemies. We fell in love."

Gabrielle couldn't think of anything to say, so Xena took a deep breath in and continued.

"It feels more like a curse now ..."

"Xena ... your soul? ... What does that mean?"

"Once I pass, I won't be anywhere but in Ares' possession. Forever I guess." With Xena's last thought spoken aloud, she hurtled a pebble over the grass, and tightened her arms around her legs. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"

"Wait a minute ... Xena ...? Since when? ... I don't understand."

"Probably the henbane," Xena smiled sadly, with no light behind her eyes. Even as she was turned toward the setting sun, Gabrielle could see the sadness in her eyes.

"Xena ... you know I care about you, don't you?"

"Yeah. I know."

"So ... what if I told you I was in the same position? You wouldn't even be a little agitated?"

Xena laughed, unexpectedly, and pressed her rough fingers against her closed eyelids to take a moment to herself. When her arms balanced on her knees, she tossed a look over to Gabrielle. "Sorry ... this has had a strange effect on me all my life."

"How young were you? - I have so many questions."

"I can't answer them all. I wasn't a child, let's just say. Old enough to make my own decisions."

"Old enough to condemn yourself to a lifetime of misery?"

Gabrielle's question hung in the air, and Xena exhaled. "He loves me. He wouldn't try to hurt me."

"Just accidentally, then?"

As the comments had been meant to support Xena, they were welcome at first, but as Gabrielle's quips cut a little deeper, Xena stood to her full height. "Listen, Gabrielle ... I don't want to talk about this. I know you're tired, and-"

"Couldn't you just trade back? You don't need to be as strong as you are, Xena. You don't need to have all the attributes he gave to you."

"I already thought of that, and it doesn't work that way. Now PLEASE. Can we stop talking about this? It gets me really ... I get lost, thinking about it sometimes."

"Of course you do," Gabrielle answered immediately, getting to her feet aside the infamous warrior. She wondered what she could do to help her closest friend, gathering an idea as Xena muttered something about catching a meal, and left.

Xena went about catching their food with minimal difficulty, and was back cleaning their dinner in the river when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Losing her balance for a moment, Xena's foot slipped, but she spun just as quickly to see Gabrielle standing there behind her.

"Gods, Gabrielle ... you're the only one who can do that to me!"

"Neat trick, huh?"

"Cut it out," Xena smirked, enjoying the trait and irritated by it all at once. She went back to cleaning their meal once she'd settled enough for the task, speaking over her shoulder. "Came down here to scare me? And just after I shared my hardest moments with you. You can really cut a girl down to size ..."

"No," Gabrielle smiled, rolling her eyes. She instinctively played with a strand of Xena's hair before returning both hands to her own hips, tightening her stance. "Xena ... I don't know what to do."

"You always know what to do, Gabrielle."

"Don't be silly," Gabrielle chastised a little too heavily for the moment. "Sorry ... I just ... I can't take the thought that you're hurting so terribly inside, Xena. I can't take the thought of you never being able to show yourself what you can truly be. That retribution exists. That there is a place for you in the afterlife ... not as some Queen of War or whatever Ares wants of you."

"You're ... the best ... person I've ever been close to ... aside from my brother."

"And you're the best person I've been close to since Ephiny."

Xena smiled at the honour in that comparison, giddy to herself until she felt both of Gabrielle's smaller hands on her shoulders. Her heart raced quite accidentally at that moment.

"Xena ... I would do just about anything to ensure your happiness."

It was the closest confession of love Xena could have imagined. She smiled anew at the sentiment, nodding as she returned the thought: "Me too, Gabrielle."

"How long have we known each other? ... And yet here we are ... this is chaos, I think."

It's love. Xena bit back her immediate response, and tapped her hand over one of Gabrielle's. She didn't know what to say, but before she could try cloaking the silence with words, Gabrielle pulled her hand away and started back to their site to see to the horses.

Xena was close behind.

They ate that evening in relative silence, and went to bed just as the sun was setting. It had been an exhausting day, and as morning peeled its way back into the milky sky, Xena stirred into wakefulness.

She always awoke rather silently - peering over to Gabrielle only to smile at the woman's ability to sleep through the lighting sky. Gabrielle always looked so peaceful in her sleep she looked oblivious to the harsh features of humankind. Xena preferred to allow herself to think such things in the early morning hours, fantasizing a simpler life for the two of them. She wondered what Gabrielle might have been like had she grown up in her village without all of her hardship. She wondered with an enjoyable grin what Gabrielle might have been like without the ability or muscle mass she possessed. Xena moaned quietly to herself at the thought of Gabrielle surrendering to her in some physical way - pretending her naivety for the sake of a game ...

When Xena heard Gabrielle tossing onto her side, she opened her eyes and banished all alluring thoughts for the day. She stretched, started to pack their things, and was ready at her horse when Gabrielle finally rubbed her eyes to the new day.

"What do you say we move on from here?" Xena smiled, chuckling when Gabrielle turned onto her stomach and covered her face from the harsh light of the sun. It took Xena two seconds to step over to Gabrielle and pull the furs from her grumpy form. "Aww, a little tired are we?"

"No," Gabrielle groaned, giving Xena a much simpler smile and a more tender nature. She chuckled as she replaced the furs where they had laid, over Gabrielle's exposed legs and arms.

"Hey, Gabrielle?"

"Go away," Gabrielle grumbled - still half-asleep.

"Gabrielle, I'm sorry," Xena smirked, enjoying in Gabrielle's grouchy moods when at all other hours of the day, Gabrielle was completely rational and put-together. "Hey, I thought we could do a little shopping after we rest another town over. What do you say?"

"Shop?" Gabrielle asked, her voice crackling with her body functioning nearly asleep at about a quarter of its capacity. And yet up jolted Gabrielle to her elbows, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Yeah, whaddya say?" Xena smiled, her smile only widening as Gabrielle showed hers in sincerity.

"Okay ... I'm up. I'm up."

Gabrielle's idea came to fruition as she watched Xena toying with an old commemoration to the God of War on an old woman's table. She watched quietly as Xena observed the sculpture meant to emulate all of the attraction of Ares himself.

Xena watched the item carefully, catching the errors and the meaning behind the piece with minimal interest. Instead, she felt a deep sadness overwhelm her that often meant Ares wasn't far off. When he sensed Xena was in need of his persuasions, he liked to appear.

Sure enough, as Xena rounded another merchant't table, she felt a presence among her. She stopped and waited while Ares snapped himself into sight just behind a vacant bench. He stepped into view as Xena rolled her eyes and looked down to another object of interest.

"Not today, Ares."

"Oh? When then, Xena? Tomorrow?"

"It's been a hard few days. Can't you tell when a woman needs her space?"

"Oh I can tell a lot about you, Xena ... and-"

"Save it, Ares. I can't deal with your games right now." Xena interrupted, pressing a shawl against Ares chest as a way of physically distancing herself while remaining somewhat passive in the act. She gave a gentle push, as if signifying she wasn't capable of more. "Just ... not today."

Pushing the God of War item to the back of the articles once again, Gabrielle marched her way over to Ares before he could disappear himself.

Ares was admiring Xena's wandering over at another section of the market when a shorter, fuming blond hurried her way over to him. Immediately, Ares was put off.

"Uh. You. What are you doing here?"

Gabrielle waited until she stood directly in front of Ares, and looked up at him with both hands on her hips. "You and I have something to arrange."

"Easy there, little girl-"

"I'm no little girl, and this is no time for teasing," Gabrielle said as calmly as she could manage. "I don't know what you did to make your trade with Xena ... but I want you to make it again. Turn things back."

"She doesn't want them turned back."

"She sure as Tartarus doesn't want to live with YOU for all eternity!"

"She sure as Tartarus wouldn't want to live some pitiful, average life here with YOU either! What do you even care? Beat it, villager."

Gabrielle's eyes fumed with anger, but there was a settled rage that found a comforting home just behind the sharp green of her irises. She inhaled and released her breath as she kept eye contact with Ares.

"You know very well my station in life."

"What? As Xena's sidekick?" Xena snickered with both arms crossed - satisfied with his tease.

Despite her anger, however, a smile found Gabrielle's lips with the notion of the term. Was that what people would think of her? Why didn't she mind? "Well then so be it."

"Let me get this right. You'd rather be a helper to a blood-hungry warlord than the Queen of some group of self-respecting women?" Ares asked, laughing for a beat, and then staring down at Gabrielle again. "You have GOT to be kidding me."

"I don't kid. Now take back the trade with Xena or suffer my wrath."

"I don't suffer wrath," Ares grinned unashamedly, "I'm a god."

Gabrielle took one long stride with her chest nearly touching the God of War's - unafraid. Through clenched teeth, Gabrielle threatened him with the words that slipped so easily from her lips it was as if she had planned them out.

"I made you disappear once, and that was BEFORE I was angry."

Despite his greater efforts, Ares took a small step back from the intimidating blond who had surprised him more than he could have imagined. Quickly, he stepped back into place, and scowled. Ares wasn't intimidated by anyone. When she had made him disappear, he hadn't worried or wondered about his mortality. He pushed his chest out with a false bravado to respond, but before he could speak, he heard a very familiar voice from behind Gabrielle.

"What did I say about playing with the God of War, Gabrielle?"

They both turned, and Gabrielle dipped her chin in shame while Ares's scowl was renewed.

"Tense moment. Thought I'd intervene," Xena smiled, despite her concerns about the image Gabrielle and Ares had made with the looks of battle among their features. "Hope nobody minds my being here."

With the presence of a more levelled head, Gabrielle backed off and pivoted around to leave some distance between herself and Ares. Ares dropped his arms, and shrugged at Xena with a lustful look that was unmistakeable: "Come to kiss and make up?" His lusty grin had Xena grinning for reasons of her own

Xena raised a brow to the anger behind Gabrielle's expression, and teasing: "I don't know if she's up for it."

The comment rightfully collected Gabrielle's attention.

Xena and Gabrielle had never spoken about kissing one another - it was a topic left unsaid until it was brought up in jest. The tension mounted in the moment between the three of them until Ares's voice ripped through it with an angry bellow loud and strong enough as a deity that the ground shook.

"Enough!"

Xena and Gabrielle braced themselves while the ground stilled and Ares continued.

"I will not be made to look foolish," Ares barked, raging against the petite blond warrior at his side. He seethed of his anger, breathing in the air as if to create a wind by the force of his breath.

Xena quickly intervened, as she always did when others were troubled with Ares, and walked up to him with a captivating look behind her eyes. Her rough index finger played just under his chin as her eyes met his. "Listen ... nothing's changed. Nothing has changed, so you don't need to get upset ... alright?"

Mesmerised as he so often was by Xena, Ares lust was renewed and he grabbed her wrist just to hold there, in his grasp. All out of words, he didn't even glance back to Gabrielle before snapping himself away.

It was a scene to discuss once the God of War had vanished, but instead of accuse or ask anything of Gabrielle, Xena took a few steps over to the agitated woman, and opened her hands to Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle ...?"

Without a word, Gabrielle stepped into her arms to be held. She sighed against the breastplate she had come to know, and kept a little closer, pressing her cheek to Xena's chest. A warm smile grew onto her lips as she felt her bond to Xena grow a little stronger. It felt as though each day that were true, pressing her hands a little harder against Xena's back - keeping them together.

Xena smiled with her chin on the crown of Gabrielle's head, closing her eyes to the connection between them. She had never felt as interested in and as simply affectionate for another person. No matter how her path unwound, she knew in that moment that she could never veer far from Gabrielle's.

Ares's words echoed in Gabrielle's mind: Xena's sidekick. She wanted to laugh at the notion that she should heed to another's battling prowess in such a way, but kept her tight smile when the idea warmed her heart. Fighting at Xena's side for the good - the right thing to do. It sounded perfect. Xena had changed somewhat in their time together. As strangely dark as Xena's humor would be, Gabrielle loved that about her. As vulnerable and uncertain as Xena could be inside, she could reveal it all with one glance. Gabrielle stood there for a long few minutes as she came to terms with just how strongly she felt for Xena. Through the silence of their closeness, she realized what Xena meant to her: she loved Xena - in whichever way her mind would allow, she loved her.

"Promise me you won't do that again," Xena asked quietly, blinking her eyes open to see a number of strangers watching them from far off. She smiled and pulled Gabrielle from her to look into the infectious sincerity in Gabrielle's eyes. "He's a god, Gabrielle ... He's dangerous."

Gabrielle grinned and teased Xena in a most uncharacteristic way: "I don't believe we've met. I'm Gabrielle, Queen of the Amazons."

Xena laughed at the imitating quirk of Gabrielle's brow. She pulled Gabrielle in to her side as she started her way out to the merchant tables again. "Okay, I get it. I know who I'm talking to ... I just ... I know how dangerous he can be. I've protected others from him before."

Gabrielle sighed, and gave Xena a friendly shove in jest. "Yeah yeah. Excuse me while I try to forget the way you touched a so-called enemy."

Yanked back with a hand around her wrist, Gabrielle nearly stumbled to her feet.

"It was for you," Xena answered seriously, releasing the wrist when the moment had become sincere again. "I would do more if it were necessary."

Gabrielle found the logic difficult to follow, but felt that she would do more for Xena that she would like to admit. She sighed, looked up at her companion, and finally nodded. "I'll try not to bait him out again, okay? ... I give you my word."

"Again?" Xena asked, leaving Gabrielle to roll her eyes and gesture to the tables of items.

"Shopping. You promised me we could shop. Now are you a woman of your word ... or what?"

The two women had stepped so closely in all of their teasing that the moment took on a sensual nature as it often did with their eyes locked and their bodies close.

Just as naturally, they did what they could to diminish the true feelings that sat quietly just below the surface.

Xena ruffled Gabrielle's hair and took off to a table of weaponry. Gabrielle fixed her hair with pretended frustration, and took off after Xena only to tease and joke their way back to the place they felt most comfortable - a caring friendship with stronger feelings pushed from the air between them.

They had a light afternoon together, finally coming across a young woman lost on the path. With hair darker and hips more slender than Gabrielle's, the woman still managed to remind Xena of her companion in younger years.

"I ... just don't know which way to a friend," the young woman insisted, obviously on her own for the first time. "Do you think you could help me?"

The girl reminded Gabrielle very much of herself with her past naivety, and Gabrielle could only smile: "Of course. Which way are you headed? Further west?"

"Yeah, just a few days' walk, I think."

Xena smiled at the part of Gabrielle that reached out so endlessly to those in need, admiring the glow of a woman working from her heart.

Gabrielle looked up to the sky, and then back down to the young woman - likely ten years her junior. "Not a problem. Xena and I were headed that way anyway."

"Oh, we were ...?" Xena smirked, enjoying the way Gabrielle could drag her along. She spoke into her fist as her knuckles rested against her lower lip. "Hmm."

"Yeah, we can start up that way," Gabrielle answered without noting the humor in her companion's voice.

Xena chuckled as she followed the two women down the path - both horses' reins safely in the grip of her free hand. She made a point of keeping her eyes from staring to the woman she could never fully shake from her mind as Gabrielle's stride changed with the incline.

"That's a common mistake," Gabrielle said to the girl as they all moved with the direction of the light breeze, talking with her hands and an inflection to her tone at the idea of helping a lost girl in need.

Xena dutifully guided the horses for Gabrielle while the young woman glanced back from time-to-time to admire the strong and dark warrior woman following behind.

Xena raised a brow as the girl turned back from Gabrielle to admire her for the third time, thinking the two women more similar than Gabrielle had spotted herself.

As the young woman returned her attention to the blond at her side, Xena muttered quietly under her breath: "Well, this should be interesting ..."


	12. Chapter 12

Xena was gathering some small stones from the side of the riverbed, when she heard slow, cautious footsteps coming from the site she and Gabrielle had set up for dinner and sleep. The footsteps had an obviously small sound, so she assumed them to be their visitor - Malzen.

Malzen was a young woman, naive to experiences outside of her home town, and very much excited by tales from more experienced warriors. There was a considerable amount of hero worship Malzen felt for Xena, as she had heard tales of her abilities in her youth. Standing back in a patch of trees, Malzen watched the dark warrior with an appreciative eye. The two scars that reached around Xena's right bicep looked like they'd been given by claws of some sort. Malzen wondered if Xena had ever fought with wolves, knowing Xena could win against wolves. Xena could win against anything.

Attempting to ignore the girl's staring, Xena continued with her task until she had chosen all the stones she wanted. She stretched open her hand to admire the white, grey and black flecks of the stones against her flesh, and smiled. She had always enjoyed the collection of such items - often leaving them behind as they left in the morning.

"Are those for throwing?" Malzen asked, finally stepping out to announce her presence.

Xena craned her neck to see the girl, and a smile tugged at her lips. "Curious, I see."

"They are - they're for battle, aren't they?" the girl asked again, only inching forward a step with a fiery gleam in her eyes for the very notion of a violence she had only heard in stories.

"They're for me because I like the look of them," Xena explained quite simply, shaking her head when the girl looked confused. "Listen ... Malzen. I'm not the big bad warrior people warned you about. Not any more. Not that I'm great, but ... I'm not what I used to be. Alright?"

Even standing ten steps away from Xena, Malzen was intimidated and excited. Her smile was infectious.

Xena rolled her eyes and dropped her line of sight into her hand for another moment. "Why don't we all just have something to eat?" She picked her eyes up and Malzen was staring at her again. "Oh boy."

When Xena stepped past Malzen and made her way back to their site, the young woman was only two steps behind her.

Gabrielle pretended not to notice how closely the two had been walking - that they arrived at precisely the same moment. They had been alone together for a long time.

"Smells great," Xena grunted as she dropped to sit on the cool, hard ground. "Gabrielle catches the greatest rabbits."

Malzen wasn't even looking to the food. She was nearly hanging off of Xena - resting one hand on Xena's left shoulder to lower herself to the ground, too.

Gabrielle arched her eyebrow to Xena while Xena shrugged in response with a smile that told of her unwillingness to be the girl's obsession. There was a sort of disconnect in the way Xena spoke with Malzen - could Gabrielle see it, she wondered. Could Gabrielle see that what Xena really yearned for was the company of a confident woman and not an oblivious girl?

With the cold grass at her knees and her feet sore from walking all day, Gabrielle was doubly as irritated with the girl she had only wanted to help. Since walking contently down the road with the young woman, Malzen had introduced herself, stared at Xena, and shared her lifelong admiration for Xena's many physical abilities. Malzen likened Xena to a god, which had Xena rolling her eyes and grunting profanities.

As much as Gabrielle could see that Xena didn't welcome Malzen's affections, the girl kept layering them onto the strong, dark warrior of few words.

Gabrielle was irritated so deeply she hadn't said a word in hours. After all, she couldn't speak for Xena, and she didn't have the intention of scaring the lost girl. Still, there was a piece of her that yearned to push Malzen off and declare Xena as her property just so she wouldn't have to see the constant touching. Maybe, she thought quietly to herself, she could declare Xena off-limits. Xena had done it with her when she'd been unconscious on henbane. Gabrielle wondered if she could get away with it, staring down at her food. Aggravated and confused.

"How do you sleep outside every night?" Malzen asked, looking out to both of them, but seeing as Gabrielle had exited herself from the conversation long ago, Malzen focused more readily on Xena. She watched the thick lips and structure of Xena's cheekbones, and she wondered if it were allowed to watch another woman as intently as she was doing it. She wondered with a pink blush if Xena had noticed.

Xena looked across the fire to Gabrielle, smiling to herself at the jealousy that spoke to her in waves. It was a side of Gabrielle she had never seen, although Gabrielle did well to disguise it in stubborn silence.

When Xena heard another question from the girl, she shrugged, and picked at her food to bring it to her mouth. "Yeah, sure ... I guess."

"Do you ever sleep together?"

Xena's eyes immediately shot up to Gabrielle, who locked eyes with her for one long moment, and then found her food of the sudden, utmost importance.

"We don't ... why?" Xena asked, still with her piercing blue eyes on Gabrielle, wondering if Gabrielle were as touched by the question. Her eyes were lit with the glowing fire between her and Gabrielle. They were dancing with questions of her own that Gabrielle was too preoccupied to notice.

"It will get awfully cold at night," Malzen explained, nearly crawling over Xena's lap to get a piece of food for herself. A slender hip grazed Xena's side somewhat accidentally.

Xena actually blushed at the way things looked when Gabrielle darted her eyes over again. Quickly, Xena lifted her hands to prove there was no enjoyment of the close contact with a much younger woman. Too young, as far as Xena was concerned, and yet Gabrielle seemed to think there were very distinct possibilities.

Gabrielle growled at the sight, sending Malzen back to sit behind Xena where she had been before.

Xena chuckled mostly to herself, taking a large bite of the meat in amusement of the situation. She might be sent troubling looks from Gabrielle, but Malzen needed to watch her actions or Gabrielle would be hurdling herself over that fire. Xena tried not to laugh again as Malzen then aptly kept her hands and feet to herself for the duration of their meal.

Just over the tips of the dancing fire, Xena caught Gabrielle's eyes again, speaking through the silence with communicative eyes: Jealous, are we?

Gabrielle countered with an expression in response: I'm fine.

Oh, really? That growl would beg to differ.

It was an accident. I was ... clearing my throat.

Malzen spoke as Xena and Gabrielle related their thoughts through the deep connective gaze they could fix on one another.

Gabrielle ventured to stare into Xena's eyes once more, cutting through her with a look neatly, and almost by accident: I'm fine.

Xena's brows lifted in such a friendly manner, she quite easily conveyed her thoughts in return: Alright alright ... no need to keep insisting.

The friendly, goofy expression had Gabrielle smiling. It was a smile that melted Xena in return, and one even Malzen noticed. It only took another question from the girl about the next day's travel before they ate the rest of the meal in silence.

When Gabrielle insisted on cleaning the pan alone after their meal, Xena instructed Malzen to stay and feed the fire.

It was denial - Xena was sure - but she needed to speak with Gabrielle before the blond warrior became emotional in front of the stranger. Xena knew that would irk Gabrielle, and the last thing she wanted was for Gabrielle to become upset over their bond.

"So ... really washing that dish, aren't you?"

Gabrielle paused in her task, stayed strong for a long moment, and then relaxed her shoulders. She couldn't think of what to say, as nothing seemed to fit quite right. The moment breathed with a unique intensity. It was difficult to deny the enthusiasm with which she cleaned the pan. Gabrielle's arm was sore from her vigorous washing, as a matter of fact.

Without any warning, Xena stepped behind Gabrielle, and gently urged the blond to her feet with two warm hands on her arms. Spinning Gabrielle around, Xena placed her hands on the sore arms before her.

"Gabrielle, you're allowed to say what's on your mind."

"I think she needs to keep her hands to herself," Gabrielle snapped, surprised with her own vigour in stating what had been meant as a gentle preference. Gabrielle looked down with her frustrating feelings.

"Then that's what I'll say," Xena answered, pulling Gabrielle in for a hug when laughter got the better of her.

Gabrielle enjoyed the hug for only a moment before laughter rang out over her head. She untucked herself from the strong arms, and crossed hers. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle. It's just that - well, she should be so crazy over YOU. Not me."

Then Gabrielle's hands slipped down to her waist while she got a twinkling smile in her green, perceptive eyes. "Will you tell her that?"

"The Mighty Xena heeds to the commands of Queen Gabrielle," Xena teased, bowing to the woman who smiled at the act just as Xena picked up her head again. "Ah, a smile. Just what I wanted to see."

"Yeah yeah. Now fix her up or I will."

Gabrielle turned on her heel and marched back to the site with the pan handle still firmly in her grasp, causing Xena to stare after her. If that wasn't a threat on the girl's life, Xena didn't know what was.

Xena hurried after Gabrielle, back to their site and back to the troublemaker who stared in awe as Xena returned and asked to speak with her. Malzen seemed to be confused when Xena told her that Gabrielle was, in fact, a much better legend, and that the excitement over her past had to end. Xena insisted it made her feel uncomfortable, which was another lie on Gabrielle's behalf. In truth, Xena had never minded others' admiration of her. She used to greatly enjoy it, but it had become an annoyance over the years that was not easily dissuaded. Instead of becoming upset, Xena had grown to ignore the attentions strangers gave her.

"You mean she started to train when she was MY age?" Malzen asked, her eyes lighting up at the mention of Gabrielle's legendary beginnings. While Xena didn't share the real events leading up to the build of the blond warrior, she insinuated rough beginnings that made Gabrielle into the powerful warrior she was. It wasn't like Xena to share with others, but she quickly found that sharing her admiration for Gabrielle was a very pleasant task. Xena could feel her cheeks glow with pleasing tingles as she talked about Gabrielle's royalty among the Amazon nation.

Xena had become carried away, but she didn't mind. After all, she knew that Gabrielle meant for Xena to feel what it was like to be ignored while her companion was adored.

Much to Gabrielle's surprise and frustration, Xena enjoyed the sight.

A young girl hanging over Gabrielle made the more experienced woman uncomfortable.

Gabrielle had clearly never been treated in such a way, having lived with the Amazons all her adult life. She had never had a woman hanging onto her in such a way.

"Xena told me all about you," Malzen giggled, sitting even closer to Gabrielle just as the blond was trying to lay out her bedroll.

"Could you ... move back for a moment? I'm trying to-"

"Sure! Sure," Malzen corrected, sweeping her brown hair over her shoulder, and clasping her arms around her knees. "Hey ... since I don't have a ..."

"No! You're not sleeping with me."

Xena snorted so loudly that Gabrielle and Malzen both turned to Xena.

"I ... I ..." Xena started, wiping the smirk from her face. "Malzen ... let's go for a walk for a minute. I think ... Gabrielle would like to set up alone."

"I guess," Malzen said sadly, following Xena like an obedient child.

After a nice, long walk and a talk the girl would always remember, they returned with a different mood between the three of them. Malzen was spoken to about the physical closeness she showed the two older women, and what that meant to some warriors. Malzen went completely white, and apologized. She swore she had only meant to show admiration, but understood how it had appeared.

Upon returning, Malzen stopped at Gabrielle's bedroll, watching one eye open to her old shoes.

"Is there a reason you're almost stepping on my face?"

Malzen sighed with her apparent inability to do anything right. Xena gestured for her to say what she had wanted to say anyway.

"Gabrielle ... I'm sorry."

Gabrielle opened both of her eyes, and looked up to Malzen.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was doing, I guess. I'm ... used to living a sheltered life. I didn't know how I was making you feel ... so ... I'm sorry. We're almost at my friend's stop, and then you'll be rid of me."

Gabrielle sighed, refraining from rolling her eyes only because Malzen was standing directly over her. "It's okay, alright? ... I'm sorry I'm cold. I'm always that way."

Xena listened from the distance between them, given her excellent auditory senses, and squinted at the confession. Was Gabrielle so used to confessing such a thing? Did she believe it?

"It's okay you were mad," Malzen answered with an uncertain smile. "If someone were talking to my friend that way, I might feel strange about it, too."

"Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Xena's ... well, she thinks a lot of you, you know?"

Xena quirked her brow at the girl's confession in return. What was she on about - that wasn't in their talk!

Gabrielle quirked her brow as well in equal confusion. "What?"

"She thinks a lot of you. I can tell in the way she speaks about you."

Xena was feeling a quick sort of impatience for the things coming from the young girl. She hadn't shared any of that with her - why was she sharing it with Gabrielle? That hadn't been Xena's intention!

"Maybe she has some hero worship of her own ..."

"Hero worship?" Gabrielle scoffed, suddenly realizing Xena was likely close. She arched and dropped her other elbow to scan her eyes around them to see a figure seated in the dark distance, among the trees - a figure in pleated leather with boots to match.

Instead of staring to decipher any more, Gabrielle lifted her eyes to Malzen again, and said in quieter words: "I take it she didn't use those words?"

"Right," Malzen blushed irrationally, clasping her hands behind her back. "I just noticed that myself."

"Right ..."

"I'll let you sleep now," Malzen stated, quickly hopping over to Xena's bedroll, somehow forgetting there were only two laid out. Gabrielle and Xena had offered to lay a blanket down for Malzen, but when Malzen had rightly aggravated Gabrielle, the blond warrior had taken the blanket and used it as a pillow.

Realizing just then that she held the only other bedroll for Xena to use, Gabrielle stared out toward the figure in the dark, and smiled in a teasing way that told of her mischievousness. Would Xena pull the blanket out from under her head? Would she walk over to Malzen and take back her bedroll? Would she dare to ask Gabrielle to share such close sleeping proximity? Might Xena even lay closely with her as they had done so seldom before?

Gabrielle turned away from the figure to lay on her side, watching through slitted eyes as Malzen laid down and turned away to warm her back with the fire. Gabrielle let herself grin with the pleasure of not knowing what Xena might do, refraining from the giggle that she felt building inside of her. She had never been one to giggle, but around Xena, she felt that desire rushing through her more with each playful glance.

Shoulders had relaxed to the cool evening air as Gabrielle's smile only gently remained when it happened.

An arm slipped under Gabrielle's neck, and a warm body pressed closely behind her. Gabrielle didn't need to open her eyes to be certain of who laid behind her. She would know the body behind her in any state of consciousness. Although she had never shared a romantic bond with Xena, she would know her hands anywhere. She would know that hesitant beat in Xena's breath in any frame of mind.

A very certain arm draped over Gabrielle's waist, and Gabrielle held her breath at the act.

"Is this what you wanted?" Xena whispered hotly into her ear, freezing Gabrielle in the moment. A smiling breath passed through Gabrielle's hair as Xena relaxed behind her, warming her feet next to the smaller warrior's feet.

Xena's hands curled up closely with the thicker but somehow smaller hands, and she smiled so widely she was glad to hide the emotive reaction in Gabrielle's shoulder-length hair.

Gabrielle didn't move until she sensed Xena was falling asleep in their relaxed position. She didn't trust herself to move until there was more secrecy in the act. Her every breath was a tell that she had to do with rehearsal until Xena had drifted off and loosened her stiffer tendency.

Gabrielle let out a long exhale to the feel of the leather at her back, ignoring the many other sensations. Xena had meant the position as a tease - she hadn't intended to take things any further. So why was Gabrielle's heart racing? She knew she hadn't been with anyone since Ephiny, but that was only about half a year's time. It wasn't as if any proximity to a hot body would have her satisfied. The girl along with them had done nothing to entice Gabrielle, and yet the warrior at Gabrielle's back had her paralyzed with excitement. Through trained breathing and careful movements to force relaxation, Gabrielle was able to motivate herself to sleep. Her feelings had to be quietened. She wouldn't allow herself to become so excited over a tease that went nowhere. Gabrielle would be expected to treat the closeness as nothing come morning. Xena meant too much to her to push away or confuse. Instead, Gabrielle forced herself to forget and to sleep with that forgetfulness of what she felt.

Xena remained awake, pained by the fact that Gabrielle wasn't ready to show her feelings or even share a confession of those feelings. If Gabrielle had been ready, Xena had no doubts she would have been pushed onto her back by an enthusiastic blond, even amidst company – only to be told she liked the feel of those hands so close to her. Gabrielle would feel no qualms about making her feelings known, had she felt completely comfortable. If she had been ready.

Instead of upsetting herself, Xena shut her eyes and drew away from the feelings that had built inside of her from the moment Gabrielle had teased her in silence to come a little closer. Had Gabrielle really had any doubts of what Xena would do?

When morning came, Xena woke up alone. It came as no surprise, but still Xena felt lonesome as she stood to her feet. Taking Gabrielle in her arms - even for only the single moment she and Gabrielle had shared the night before - left her with a sort of bitter emptiness upon the shattering reality of their situation.

With everything packed up and ready to go, Xena wondered how she had remained asleep. It was when she glanced over to Malzen still fast asleep that it made sense: Gabrielle had expertly manoeuvred around by herself.

Xena didn't mention the previous night until after they had waved Malzen off upon the arrival at her friends' property. The girl left their company, and left Xena and Gabrielle walking off on their own, just like it used to be.

Gabrielle had spoken rather awkwardly amidst their goodbyes, inwardly afraid of what conversation might come once she was alone with Xena. The honest answers she might be forced to deliver kept her silent. She needed to push away her feelings – however confusing. She needed to forget.

Xena's thoughts interrupted their shared silence.

"Would you rather I bring her along some more? You were more talkative with her around."

Gabrielle blushed a deep shade of red at her memory of the night before. She forced the reaction away with thoughts of the one person who she had been as close with before she had ever met Xena. "I ... It's hard Ephiny's not here any more."

Xena blinked, wondering where that thought had come from. She straightened her smile and agreed with a plainly mature and thoughtful response: "Me too, Gabrielle."

Feeling guilty, Gabrielle tried to fix her expression of sadness: "I ... mean ..."

"I know what you mean," Xena answered in kind, tossing Gabrielle a gentle smile. She walked along with Gabrielle with sore feet and a feeling she didn't know quite how to place. "When we miss someone with all our hearts ... it can take us a very long time to understand what life is without them."

Gabrielle stopped - somehow out of breath even with their mild walk - and braced her hands on her knees. She closed her eyes and then straightened up again: "Yeah ... that's wise."

"Go ahead. Say it," Xena grinned.

Gabrielle smiled in a very sentimental fashion. "What?"

"I'm wise, too. Go ahead. We both know you think it."

Gabrielle crossed her arms, glad for the light shift in atmosphere. "Xena ... I do think you're wise. And I hate what a mess I am. I ... want you to know that."

"Hey. You mean ... a lot to me, Gabrielle. I would say I mean a lot to you, too."

Gabrielle felt that if she were a woman easily brought to tears, she would have cried as Xena stared at her with such supportive blue eyes.

"Friends do anything for each other."

Gabrielle looked to the hand locked over her shoulder, smiling naturally and laying her own over top of it. She lifted her own green, honied eyes to Xena's and looked at her with an affection so clear the companions spoke without words, just as they were prone to do.

I'd do anything for you.

Xena's lips tightened in the center until her cheeks tightened the same, and spread the smile across her face: Not anything, I'm sure.

Gabrielle kept her stare as sure and honest: Anything.

Before she could read into Xena's eyes any further, Gabrielle shrugged and ran her hands impatiently through her hair. "Xena ... I think I need to keep walking. I don't know ..."

"Sure," Xena answered, removing her smirk to replace it with a more sincere smile toward their long-term bond. "Let's-"

With a heavy heart, Gabrielle interrupted: "Let's go to that temple down there."

Xena spun on her heels: "Have you grown faith in the gods in our time together?"

Gabrielle laughed at the absurd shock in Xena's voice, and then remembered her reason for her suggestion. She rested her hands back on her hips. "No, Xena. I just ... there's something I need to do."

Not one to judge, Xena agreed and accompanied Gabrielle down the hill to the somewhat abandoned temple not far off from a small gathering of homes. They had to wait a substantial amount of time until it was empty, but once it was, Gabrielle asked to have some time alone there.

Xena agreed without argument, and went for a walk.

Gabrielle pushed open the door and inhaled long and hard, choking on the intention of her visit, but confident still. She pushed her shoulders back, and prayed for guidance. She wanted to know exactly how she might do what she had already planned in her mind when Ares appeared before her.

Immediately, Gabrielle's eyes flew opened to the sound of his arrogant footsteps.

"Ares ...?"

"The one and only," he grinned, "You know, you shouldn't think of me as actively as you did just then - it gives a man the wrong sort of idea."

Gabrielle rose to her feet, and pushed back her rage for what Ares had taken from Xena long ago.

"I'm here about Xena. I promised her I wouldn't try to summon you."

"So what do you call all that praying?"

"Well, you'll excuse me if I didn't expect you to come see me after the things I thought of you."

Ares scoffed: "Not big on flattery, are you, little thing?"

Gabrielle cracked her neck, but kept calm. "I will trade you. Xena's soul for mine."

Still staring at her as if she would confess it had been a joke, Ares started to laugh. He laughed so hard it shook the benches in the temple, but Gabrielle stood indifferent to his reactions. She waited.

Ares slicked back his dark, curly hair as he calmed himself at last, and chuckled out the last of his false amusement. "Yeah, well. You'll excuse the disbelief, then."

"Just do the trade. That has to be appealing for someone who hates me as much as you do."

As indifferent as Ares was desperately trying to appear, all his plans were beginning to crumble. Once offered such a trade under the spell he had cast, he knew he would have to accept. Had Gabrielle meant it in sincerity? Surely she didn't know what she was asking for – certainly she was mistaken. To prove how ludicrous the trade sounded, he spoke to dissuade the blond nuisance. "What in Hades would you trade that for? What have you known her for? Five minutes?!"

As Ares laughed again, Gabrielle waited until he realized how serious she was.

"You're not really offering this."

Gabrielle straightened her back, and pushed out her chest. "I'm insisting."

A growl that was set low in his throat quickly became loud enough to worry Gabrielle for the structure of the temple, but things settled as Ares slapped his own face with anger. "You DON'T. Know. What you're doing."

"What's wrong? Can't you turn me away?" Gabrielle asked in semi-confusion.

Although the truth was that he couldn't, Gabrielle wasn't aware, and he wasn't about to admit the drawbacks of his spell over Xena. He simply told himself he would get Xena back some other way, and calmed himself by knowing that Gabrielle's soul would be his to torment for as long as he pleased.

Ares folded his arms, and stalked closer to Gabrielle with every intention of striking her down when he heard something just at the doors.

Aggravated from the element of human surprise, Ares snapped himself away while the door opened and Xena peered inside the place to see Gabrielle standing alone.

"What happened?"

Gabrielle looked around, steeling herself against any questions Xena might ask - had Ares already done the trade? How would she know if he had followed through? "What ...?"

"I saw the place shake from far off ... What-"

At that moment, Gabrielle clutched her chest with a pain that cut through her - prompting Xena to help support her. Brave to the pain, Gabrielle blinked her way through the sharp pain until it began to subside, draining her for a full minute of all of her energy while Xena suddenly felt rejuvenated. Xena held onto Gabrielle, wondering and frowning within the realm of her thoughts.

"Gabrielle! ... Are you okay?!"

Fighting her way through the pain, Gabrielle forced a smile, and was helped onto a bench while Xena stared up at her from bended knee.

"Gabrielle? ... Talk to me."

It was then that Gabrielle regained her breath from the diminishing pain that had coursed through her. As her stability came rushing back, Gabrielle mustered out what words she could: "I'm ... okay."

The severity of eternity rushed through her with such vigorous sorrow that Gabrielle wondered for a moment if she had been all too selfless in the trade of her soul for another's. It was when she stared into Xena's eyes again that she knew she had made the right decision.

"Why ... do you care so much about me?" Gabrielle laughed lightly, gesturing with a weak hand to Xena's obvious tender personal interest in her, although she understood very well. In part, she was pointing out her own mysteriously-bonded adoration for Xena.

"Sometimes we do crazy things for the people we care about," Xena answered so easily Gabrielle couldn't help but feel touched by the parallels between them.

She sat back on the bench, and thought back to what Malzen had mentioned to her about Xena's worship of her. There Xena sat, kneeling at her feet as if she were a sacred statue. And there Gabrielle sat, protecting her in silence.

"Oh, Xena."

"What?" the warrior smiled, taking Xena's hand. "Don't you know what I mean?"

Gabrielle let herself rest another moment, motioning for Xena's help when she felt her energy somewhat restored. She swung her arm over Xena's shoulders, and smiled despite her sorrow: "You have no idea."

She surprised herself with what she was willing to do for Xena. Bonded by a sort of growing connection between themselves, they were beyond friendship. It was a companionship that threatened to break the bonds of any labels they had ever known.

Gabrielle's response resounded in Xena's ears as Xena helped the blond warrior along - thinking that she knew very well the lengths she was willing to go to for the heavenly woman at her side.


End file.
